Alone
by YouCantCancelQuidditch7
Summary: Sixteen years had passed since the destruction of her people's plant - a place where she had always longed to be able to call home but was never able to. Being born on Earth had taken its toll on her - not only physically, but with her legacies as well. The survivors - the future Nine Elders - were never told about her, and Madeleine was never told about them. Until the war began.
1. The New Legacy

_One_

 _Madeleine_

The power had been out for days now. My dad didn't seem to mind the darkness and the stuffy heat that came from life in Georgia without air conditioning. He said it should make me and my mom tougher, that we had grown too accustomed to a pampered life. Mom had been cooking meals outside on a charcoal grill, trying to cook as much food as she could before it all spoiled. She said that we would get the money to pay the bills soon, that everything was going to be okay. Of course, that was the answer. "It's going to be okay" is her answer for everything.

"Mom, I skinned my knee, and it's bleeding."

"It's going to be okay."

"Mom, I failed my chemistry assignment because you and Dad kept me up all night with your fighting."

"It's going to be okay."

"Mom, my councilor saw the bruises on my arms and is considering calling Child Protective Services."

"It's going to be okay."

However, as much as her response to my problems annoys me, I know that she doesn't have much of a choice as to what to say. If she tells me that she's going to get a job, Dad freaks out. If she uses her healing legacy, Dad freaks out. If she says she's going to get us help... You get the point.

Almost my whole life, it's been like this. My mom, Anna, used to talk about a time when her and my father, Wes, were actually in love. She told me stories when I was a child about them living on a planet named Lorien and training as Garde's to go on special missions for their people. She spoke almost as if she were describing a beautiful daydream, her eyes looking far away as she talked about the gorgeous nature and lovely beaches and fireworks they used to watch together, watching as the two Loric moons came into view. She talked about how her friends used to tease her because her main Legacy – or power – was healing, and that it came so late that many people thought she was a Cepan – a trainer with no powers. She could do other things, she said, but that healing was the one she was the most gifted at.

Mom said Dad was a gifted archer and very talented with his legacies. See, there was tons of controversy about their love because he was the son of one of the planet's Elders, Pittacus Lore. Apparently, his mother wanted him to marry the daughter of another Elder instead of a normal barely-qualified Garde. Pittacus didn't seem to mind. He actually seemed to like that his son had found someone he liked that didn't want him just because of his heritage. They ended up marrying without his mother's blessing, and, because of it, it made relations strain on their home planet. When a mission came about looking for a Garde to scout out Earth during our bad Mogadorian relations, my parents volunteered immediately. They packed up all of their belongings and ran to the spaceship as fast as their feet could carry them.

Here's where things got complicated. Wes enjoyed the sex and the flirting with his wife all the time. He mainly married her so that they could move in and do whatever without interruption. The game plan was to move to Earth for a month, come back, and report their findings.

That didn't work. When they arrived, Mom found out she was three months pregnant with me, Madeleine, and doctor's they spoke to back on Lorien suggested they wait until after I was born to return home. No one was sure how space travel could affect a fetus, so they agreed reluctantly and rented an apartment in New York City. Months passed and I arrived extremely small and sick.

Turns out, space travel _does_ hurt babies! Shocker! One of my lungs had collapsed while being birthed, and I was forced to spend over a month in the hospital while they fixed me up. No one was sure I'd even survive the first forty-eight hours, but I miraculously did. Mom tried her best to use her healing legacy on me, but either she was too shaken up or too tired from giving birth for it to work. They waited for my health to improve for a year, nursing me at home and keeping a close eye on me at all times. Then, after I was able to sit up and giggle, Wes called my grandmother to request a ship home for him and his family.

They had barely began to speak when the Mogadorian's attacked Lorien. They pillaged and raped the entire planet thanks to the help of my grandfather's enemy, Setrakus Ra. Our plans to return home no longer existed. We had no place to call home, no backgrounds, and no other people of our kind. We were alone on a planet that knew nothing about us.

So we hopped around the United States, creating fake lives. I was a US citizen, technically, so I fit in nicely. My parents changed my name to Madeleine Paisley so that I could start school. My dad did a few under the counter jobs and made a living the hard way while Mom stayed home and took care of me. At age 4 I was diagnosed with a very bad case of asthma that I still hold onto today at 17. My immune system was shit; I would get sick if someone coughed in the same room as me. But I grew up looking a lot like my mother – fiery red curls and a sharp jaw line – and my father – those piercing blue eyes and freckles splashed across my face – despite the illnesses that I faced.

We became the modern day family until Dad became an abusive drunk. Once I hit grade school is when it really began. He lost a lot of his contacts, and we began to have financial problems. We shopped at thrift stores for clothes and shoes, clipped coupons for hours, and became extremely reclusive in our neighborhood. My parent's began to get Cabin Fever while in hiding and began to fight and scream more. After a month of just words, things got physical. Then it moved to him spending our money at bars, only to come home and beat me if my grades weren't what they should be.

That's how we managed to lose our power. Dad spent all his money on liquor and is now passed out at 9PM in their bedroom. I'm not actually sure what Mom is doing right now, but I'm upstairs in my bedroom, laying back on my bed and listening to the crickets chirp outside my open window. Part of me used to wonder if the reason Dad began to drink was because I was 17 and still haven't developed a Legacy, not even telekinesis, something Dad said he developed at 13. Another part of me wondered if it was because of Mom, but I think I understood when I was younger that the real reason was because I was born. I kept him from returning home to his family and friends, and in his eyes, I can see he resents me for that.

As I laid there on my bed, I held my hand up like Darth Vader did in the movies and focused on the dormant fan blades, squinting and trying my hardest to make them move only an inch for what feels like an hour.

Nothing happens. I sigh and let my hand fall to my side. It was no use. I accepted that I was never going to develop a legacy and would continue to be my father's little disappointment for the rest of my damned life. I sat up, flipped my head over, and pulled my thick hair into a messy ponytail. At least no one except for my parents and I would know about the girl, Madeleine Paisley, who was guaranteed to be a Garde not being able to obtain any legacies. Even if I did get them, I would probably have an asthma attack just trying to use them.

I stood and stretched my limbs, yawning. Tomorrow I would make up flyers for dog walking or babysitting around town in hopes of bringing in some money to get the power back on. I looked over to the small open window from which I could feel a slight breeze coming into my room. Moving closer, I noticed how the leaves on the oak tree in the back yard were beginning to fall away, reminding me that I unfortunately had school in two days to start my senior year. I bit my lip as I rested my hands on the windowsill. Oh how I hated school – the pointless assignments, the obnoxious kids, the rude teachers, the detention and suspension-

 _Bam!_

A small black shape hurtled towards my face, grazing my forehead with its claws before knocking me to the floor. The animal screeched before it flew down on my face, flapping its wings at me and pecking at me with its sharp peak. I let out a cry before covering my face with my arms and rolling away. I awkwardly tried to fight against it – waving one of my arms around, tripping onto the bed, stumbling and cursing – but the bird was relentless. My head began to ache badly from its beak. I glanced up in time to see the bird flying across the room before shooting back at me like a bullet. I threw my hands up, screaming, tensing -

 _Thunk._

I slowly opened my eyes. The bird hit the ground a foot away from me twitching, one of its wings dislocated at the joint while its black beady eyes looked all around the room in terror. I looked around to see a soft pink light filtering onto my walls. My body slowly untensed as I looked around for the source of the pink light, but when my arms came down and my shoulders loosened, the pink light disappeared. I stepped over the broken bird and scampered over to my dresser mirror, looking at myself wide-eyed. There was three bleeding scratch marks on my head and a few nips, but nothing major. I closed my eyes and imagined the bird was hurtling towards me again, throwing up my arms and tensing. Internally I felt a click, something in my mind telling me I was doing something right. I opened up my eyes, not bothering to move my body.

I was encircled in a pink force field. It was round, almost like a bubble. Carefully, I stuck my hand out and let my fingers touch the edge of the force field when an electric shock sparked on its outer part. I jerked back just as the force field disappeared.

"Oh my god this can't be happening," I said breathlessly.

My first legacy is a pink shield.

"MOM!" I called down before rushing towards the door, but before I could run downstairs, the bird my legacies almost killed flopped as it tried its best to move.

"Oh, right, sorry," I said quietly as I gently scooped up the black bird in an old shirt and carefully carried it downstairs for my mom to heal it.

I found her on the couch fanning herself with an old magazine in her pajamas. Her graying hair was braided back out of her face as she looked up at me expectantly before confusion set in.

"What's that?" She said quietly. "What happened to your head? I heard screaming but I didn't think to -"

"A bird. It flew into my room and attacked me." I sat down beside her and passed it to her easily.

"How did it get hurt?" Mom laid her healing hand on its chest. The bones in its wing began to fuse back together, and its movements began to come back.

"I developed a legacy!"

Mom jumped, the bird bouncing in her arms in shock. "Wha-what is it?"

I stood up off the couch and closed my eyes, trying my best to envision me being protected once more. My mind clicked again, and I opened my eyes. My mom's mouth hung open in shock as she stared at the pink force field that stood between us. She acted like she was trying to speak, her mouth opening and closing, but honestly she just looked like a fish eating.

"Well, I'll be damned." My parents bedroom door clicked shut. "The little bastard finally is becoming productive."

"Wes-"

"Don't chide me, Anna," my father snapped in a hushed tone, his finger pointed at her but his eyes glued to me. "I'm perfectly capable of talking to my daughter about her _gift_ without your imput."

My mom sat on the couch in silence for a moment before silently walking over the front door and stepping outside with the healed black bird. Dad walked past me and into the connecting kitchen while taking in the sight of my force field. I hesitantly willed it away. When it disappeared, Dad snorted.

"Some legacy." He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a can of Coors Light. "Seems like something you would inherit from your mother – the ability to protect your own hide and leave the rest of us to be injured."

I chewed my bottom lip. "Maybe I can expand it, or maybe channel it to work on someone else."

I saw his eyebrows shoot up as the can popped open. "To do that, you'd need to actually have the ability of a Garde and not an Earthling." He took a sip of beer, his eyes almost daring me to talk back.

Dad does this all the time. He talks like he's tough, like he's hot shit surrounded by peasants. Back in his prime, I could understand this attitude – he _was_ kind of important, he _was_ popular, and he _was_ rich and smart. But now, all he's succumbed to is the life of an overweight, unemployed drunk who likes to beat on me.

I began to walk backwards with my head kind of hung low. I honestly wasn't sure what I expected. Maybe a congratulations. "I'm just going to go to bed. Night."

I turned to walk up the steps when I heard the can crinkle in his grasp. "Now just you wait a minute, we ain't done talking."

Shit. Of course we're not. I turned back to face him as Mom stepped back inside with my shirt draped across her arm.

"What else is there to say?" I slowly began to walk towards the kitchen. "'Madeleine, you're a disappointment and the reason that I wasn't there to protect my home from those Mogadorian bastards'? 'Why can't you develop a legacy like Ximic, or Dreyen?' 'Why did you have to turn out so much like-"

He slapped me hard across the face. My knees buckled slightly, but I stumbled and corrected myself with one hand against the door frame. Mom gasped, still standing by the front door. Dad pointed his fat finger in my face as he got in my face. His other hand, the one that was firmly grasping the crumpled beer can, radiated heat that I could feel warming the already sweltering house.

"Don't you ever talk like that again to me," he growled. I closed my mouth and held my breath to keep from smelling the alcohol on his breath. "Need I remind you the things that your mother and I sacrificed to keep you alive? Did you just happen to forget that we gave up everything for you? Our lives, our family, our jobs?"

"If I remember correctly," I said through gritted teeth, "you and Mom volunteered to come to Earth. I never volunteered to be born."

His hot hand balled around the can as he threw that first punch into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I gasped and doubled over, holding my stomach in pain as I tried to level my breathing. No asthma attacks. No. I can't have another one this week.

"So much for that fucking legacy you have."

He slammed the beer can into the side of my head and knocked me onto the floor. I felt blood trickle into my right eye as I groaned.

"Buck up, Maddy," he said as he pressed the toe of his house shoe into my side. "You've developed a legacy, which signifies your coming of age. You're growing into an adult now. Act like it." With a shove of his leg, I laid on my back. Dad threw the can and turned his back to me, shaking his head as he went back for another drink. Maybe this time he would get something stronger.

Mom shuffled across the room before kneeling down next to me. She placed her hands on my forehead where the can and the bird cut me up. Her face seemed pained, but I knew this wouldn't last long. It would be long before she was taking his side.

I didn't see him in time to warn her. My father let out an annoyed grunt and landed a soccer worthy kick in her ribs, knocking her onto her side. He began to stomp on her ribs, her back, her legs – whatever he could get a good shot at.

I extended my hand out towards her as my heart raced and my breath began to quicken. I wanted to take her hand and run away from this place, go into hiding, and never see my father again. I knew she was scared of him, that he wasn't the man she married so many years ago. But she still loved him, and love was a concept that I knew I was never going to be able to understand because of him. I didn't think that I would be able to trust a man or a woman that I loved in the same way that Mom used to trust Dad. He ruined me not on physically but also mentally, he scarred my heart.

No person would ever be able to make me fully trust them. They could thank my father for that.

My mom let out a tiny cry when he kicked her again in the ribs. I lurched my hand out, and, to my surprise, my legacy I had forgotten about responded. The pink shield wrapped around both of us. When my father's foot connected with the force field, the electric shock threw him back against the wall. His large mass knocked a huge hole in before he fell to the ground unconscious. I waited a moment before removing the force field from around us.

I rolled over onto my belly painfully and crawled over to my mother. Her face was beat up and she had broken a few ribs, but besides that, she seemed conscious and fine. I brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes before taking her hand in mine.

"You did good," she whispered quietly. With one hand, she reached up and healed my head wound. "It's going to be okay."

"Are you going to heal yourself?" I asked. "Before he wakes up?"

"Yes, but he should be out for a few hours." She gave me a bloody smile. "Go upstairs, lock the door, and get some rest. Let that headache heal naturally."

I looked over at the sweaty slob in the floor. "Do you have to heal him?"

"Only when he wakes up. If I didn't, he'd do it himself and just set himself off again."

I bent down and pecked her head. I stood, holding a cracked rib that I knew she wasn't going to fix, as she closed her eyes and began to focus on healing herself. I stepped over her and slowly began to walk up the steps.

As I stumbled into my bedroom and fell on the bed, only one thought kept running through my head – that I was given that legacy for a reason. Not because of sheer randomness, but out of necessity.

Perhaps there still was hope for me after all, that I could still develop legacies without necessarily being on the planet that gifted them. Maybe it was in my blood, or maybe it was all in my head. Maybe one day I could travel to Africa and get super speed from being chased by a Cheetah, or super strength from lifting an elephant.

My planning was short lived. Soon after lying down, the comfort lured me into a slumber, and my night raged on with nightmares and restlessness.

* * *

 _John_

Nine and I had been sitting at the table for what felt like hours. The girls were showering away the sweat from today's training while Sam and his father tinkered in Sandor's old work room. Five was already asleep in his new room – at least, we presumed. Neither Nine or I wanted to check, so to us, he was asleep. Nine and I were waiting on the girl's to get out of the shower before we could get in, but from the rate it was going, it seemed like it would take forever.

It had been very nice for Nine to let us stay in his old penthouse in Chicago. While I never would publicly tell him this, I kind of envied the way he used to live – the fancy living space, the video games, the tv's, the food, the privacy. It was all most of us were deprived of. I never experienced anything near settling down, and Nine had said he had lived here for years.

Staying in plain sight in the middle of a huge city. Sounds like the opposite of what Henri would allow us to do.

But as of right now, we were all experiencing the life of luxury, while temporary, that Nine used to know and love. I looked across the table to see him peeling open a banana very slowly. I watched for ten seconds before he finished the first strip.

"What are you doing?"

"Peeling a banana. What does it look like I'm doing?" He began on the next one.

"Why so slow?"

"What, are you the banana police? Am I fucking peeling my banana wrong? Would you like to do it for me, Pittacus?" Nine rolled his eyes and continued his slow work.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I've just never see someone focus so hard on peeling a -"

"Well, it's my banana and I'll peel it how I feel. If you must know, Officer, I'm trying to keep the strings from breaking and making a mess. Is that a crime? Are you going to arrest me?"

I closed my eyes and stifle a laugh. "Whatever, man, I hope you enjoy it."

"I fucking will." He plucked the banana from its peel and bit into it, a snarky grin spreading across his face as he took the peel and flicked it at my face. I pushed it back at him with my telekinesis, but it fell pointlessly back on the table. Nine just shook his head with a grin.

"Some Pittacus you are," he said with a mouth full. "You can't even throw a banana peel right!" He cackled before almost choking on his banana.

I started to throw the peel at him again when Sam walked into the dining room, holding onto the tablet Sandor made to track known Lorien. His face was scrunched into a frown, possibly from not being invited to join Six in the shower, as he stared down at the device.

"The only person we're missing is Adam, right?" He looked up at us, looking puzzled – AKA, the same look he gets when he's onto something.

"The only _Mog_ we're missing is Adam," Nine said, swallowing the rest of his banana in one bite. He pushed out the chair beside Sam with his telekinesis. "But yeah, that sounds right."

Sam slid into the seat and sat the tablet where all three of us could see. "And Adam is here." He points to a triangle moving from New York to Chicago.

"What are you getting at?" I asked, frowning down at the tablet. In Chicago, six tiny triangles overlap each other, representing Nine, Six, Ella, Marina, Five, and myself. Eight was just killed. Am I forgetting anyone?

"Then who are they?" He points to three triangles near Atlanta, Georgia.

"Have the Mogadorians taken the legacies of Two, Three, and Eight and transferred them like they did with Adam?" I asked.

"No," Malcolm Goode says as he comes in. His eyes are heavy from lack of sleep, and his movements seem to be a little sluggish. "They didn't know they transferred the legacies over to Adam until we attacked. Even then, the equipment used was destroyed, along with both scientists over the proceedings."

"So you're saying there's more Lorien out there. More people that didn't travel on the ship with us."

"That's what I theorize, but I can't be certain. It could be a flaw in the system-"

Nine shook his head. "No flaw. Sandor never made any flaws, not with technology."

"How can you be certain?"

He thought for a second before shrugging. "I knew Sandor and how seriously he took building that tablet."

I looked over at the tablet. "Can you get an address?"

"Already handled," Sam said. His eyes seemed to light up. "That house is owned by Wes Paisley, unemployed alcoholic with domestic violence complaints. Apparently, he's married and has a daughter, which CPS is threatening to take if he doesn't straighten up his act."

"CPS? He beats on them?"

Malcolm pulled a cell phone out of his back pocket and produced some pictures that he handed to us to look through. A red headed girl about our age stood in front of the camera glaring. Her lip was busted and her eye and arms were bruised.

"She said it was a fight with one of the neighborhood kids, but the dad's record makes them suspicious."

I passed the phone to Nine, whose face hardened as he looked through the pictures. "What's her name?"

"Madeleine Paisley. Born one year before Lorien was destroyed."

Nine handed Malcolm back the phone. "And you think they fled the planet, took the girl, and hid?"

Sam shrugged. "We don't know, but we think she's important."

I nodded. "We'll go check it out." I glanced over at Nine, who seemed to have a permanent scowl now. "How about me, you, and Ella leave in the morning?"

"You're going to need a healer," he grumbled.

"I can use my Ximic."

Nine nodded before he stood up and smiled over at Sam sarcastically. "Sorry, bro, but I'm about to go get your girlfriend out of the shower."

"What?!" Sam stared at him wide eyed as Nine used his super speed down the hallway. Suddenly, a chorus of girl screams preceded Nine being thrown back down the hallway. He landed with a thud before laughing and getting back to his feet.

"There were worse places to get thrown out of," he said cheekily. Sam rolled his eyes and took the tablet with him as he marched back into the office.

I rubbed my temples. This was going to be harder than I thought...


	2. Found

_Two_

 _Nine_

After John and I took our showers and packed our bags, we took off in my tricked-out Ford Taurus with Ella. I decided to take the wheel and Ella slid into the passenger seat. She smiled over at me with a little blush on her cheeks as she tucked her auburn hair behind her ear. I smiled back before my eyes flicked up to the rear view mirror to see John rolling his eyes.

"You just mad because we're leaving Sarah?" I asked with a smirk.

John glared. Ella giggled quietly into her hand as I threw the car into drive and squealed the tires before leaving the underground garage. We bounced out onto the quiet night streets of Chicago, a sight that could only be found in the very wee hours of the morning. We left the city and hopped onto I-65 with the pedal to the metal for the majority of the way. After about 30 minutes of silence, I looked over at little Ella to see her asleep against the passenger door. I shook my head with a smile before turning my attention back to John quickly. He was fighting sleep, looking out the window into the darkness around us.

I opened my mouth to say something, but he beat me to it.

"It's odd that they just randomly showed up. Sam had been staring at that thing for days." He yawned, covering his mouth before running his hands through his blonde hair.

"I was thinking the same thing." I kept my voice quiet, trying my best not to disturb Ella. She had been looking extremely tense lately, especially after reading the letter from Crayton. I was surprised John invited her. "Maybe Maddy took off some kind of protection barrier?"

"Maddy? You talk like you've known her for years."

My chest tightens. That was a slip.

"Do you know her?"

I shook my head, black hair falling into my eyes. I push it away. "No."

There was a pause. I looked up at the mirror to make sure he hadn't fell asleep, but, instead, he seemed to be waiting for my answer. I turned my eyes back to the road. He wasn't getting one.

"Nine, who's Maddy?"

Silence.

"Nine -"

"I outlasted over a year of Mogadorian interrogation without saying a word. I can last a ten hour car ride."

Ella shifted slightly beside me with a pained expression but did not wake. John didn't press anymore, his exhaustion probably outweighing his interest in my past. Which is perfectly fine with me, because I was not interested in discussing previous girlfriends. Er, girlfriend. Friend who I liked and dated. Unofficial girlfriend. Crush. Girls are confusing.

My mind wandered back to Madeleine's pictures – the new Madeleine, not my Maddy. It wasn't her bruises that struck me; it was her dead eyes. Despite the not-so-great photograph, I could barely make out a set of pale blue eyes that should have been full of life. She was easily my age or a year younger with bright red curls and freckles hidden by pain. She grew up outside a busy city. She should have many friends and go out on the weekends. She should be happy. This Madeleine was the opposite of my Maddy, who had big brown eyes and long black hair with those adorable bangs. My mouth twitched into a smile thinking about the planetarium and the car chase from the Mogs...

The Mogs... The ones who stole her away from me. Who she turned me into. The ones who killed her and her parents.

My face fades back into its usual stony expression. Even though Madeleine isn't the same girl, she bears the same name as her. We can't lose another Maddy. I can't lose another Maddy.

I drive for four hours in silence, repressing thoughts the entire way. No need to think about the things that have already happened and start to feel sorry for myself. Before, I would use her and Sandor's death as fuel for my anger, but today, I can't even use it to steel myself away from self-pity. John and Ella are both asleep so there's no way to start a conversation to distract myself. I'm stuck with memories I have nightmares about, except this time, I can't wake up.

My eyes start drooping in Louisville, Kentucky. I pull off into a 24/7 service station and wake John so he can take over. We agree to stretch our legs for a few minutes before continuing our drive. The early morning sun begins to peak over the horizon, signaling for commuters to come out and play on the interstate. We should be in Atlanta around lunchtime, giving me about six hours to rest if everything goes according to plan.

John yawns and stretches. "I'm getting hungry."

I nod and reach into my cargo short's pockets, pulling out a few bucks. "I'll go get us some snacks."

"I got it." John takes the money out of my hand, a slight nervous smile played across his face. He looks over at Ella with wide eyes. I try to interject, but the jackass walks away without another word. Ella looks between me and him before awkwardly backing to the door.

"I'm, um, going to the restroom." She turns and sprints inside after giving me a quick wave. I threw my hands in the air with a sigh. Whatever. I'm too tired to deal with their bullshit. I crawled into the backseat and laid on my back with my arm over my eyes, trying to fall asleep before they came back so I didn't have to talk.

It didn't work. I hadn't been lying down for more than a minute before the two of them piled into the front seat and began to jabber. John opened a bottle of soda as he began to pull out of the parking lot, and Ella munched on some chips. She tossed back a bag of Doritos that fell into the floor.

"You need to eat soon," she said. "Keep up your strength in case we have to fight some Mogs to get her."

"I'll eat them later," I say irritably.

"Now would be better," John chimes in.

"Unless you laced them with sleeping pills, I'm not touching them."

I heard Ella turn in her seat to face me. I barely moved my arm so I could see her with one eye. From back here, she looks like she should be starting middle school tomorrow. She tucked her hair behind her ears as John pulled the Taurus back onto I-65.

"So, Nine," she says before clearing her throat. "John and I were talking inside, and he mentioned that you knew this girl."

I glared at her for a brief second before putting my arm back over my eye. "We're not talking about this."

She shifted again, this time setting down her snack before pressing the subject. "John told me that you seemed a little sensitive on this subject-"

"I don't know this Madeleine," I snap, turning away from her. I block her out completely, trying to focus on the abyss called Sleep that I would love to fall into right about now. She heaves a sigh before turning back around.

There's a silence for a few minutes as John speeds towards Georgia. I keep my eyes shut in hopes of falling asleep, but I'm unsuccessful. However, Ella and John seem to think differently.

"If he doesn't know this girl, then who is the Maddy he mentioned earlier?" John whispered. Too bad for them, one of my legacies is super hearing.

""Maddy is a common name," Ella said. I can almost hear her chewing on her nails. "Maybe he used to have a friend named Maddy before he was captured."

 _More like lured, but okay._

John shifted. "Maybe. I don't know. He seems _off._ "

"Like he's actually upset and not repressing all of his emotions like he usually does? Because he wants to seem like the big, tough guy who is always happy and ready to smash in some skulls?"

"Yeah, El. Just like that."

I shut my eyes tighter before tucking my head deeper into the leather seat. Their conversation ended, thank god. Soon after, I did manage to plunge head first into the abyss, but the view below was no better than the one above. Instead of being interrogated about my past, I was forced to relive it.

* * *

Six hours later, John woke me up. The car was parked outside of Battle Rock High School, located thirty minutes outside of Atlanta. I guessed that we had slipped into the student section, a fact that I gathered from the orange pick-up truck with the "Don't Tread On Me" sticker next to us. From the movies and television shows I used to watch, teachers drive Ford Taurus's like us, not beat up Chevys. Ella sat silently in the passenger seat, biting on her thumb nail. I sat up tiredly and ran my hand through my black hair.

"What are we doing here?" I said with a yawn.

"This is her high school," John explained. "I got Sam to hack into their system. She's supposedly inside, but we can't be sure. He also said that Adam should be in Chicago by the time we get back."

"Yeah, yeah, great. A fucking Mog in my penthouse. Woo-hoo. We need to go get her out." I reached for the door, but all four doors locked with a flick of John's hand. He shook his head.

"Earth schools have gotten extremely strict about who they let inside. There's been a number of students and random people shooting up schools or blowing them up. That's one reason Henri was so reluctant to let me go to school, especially after Three was murdered. And if Sam and Malcolm trust Adam, I think we need to give him a chance."

"I'm giving him a chance by not killing him on sight, aren't I?" I sigh and look at the school. "Then how do you say we get her to safety away from the Mogs?"

Ella quit biting on her nail and made eye contact with me. "Maybe we could go to her house and wait for her with her parents. And if they don't agree to speak with us, we intercept her before she gets home."

"Kidnapping?" John asks, but he's smiling.

"Protecting." Ella beams.

I nod. "Sounds good to me."

So that's what our plan was – drive to her house and talk to her parents before she gets home. But, we're Loric. Nothing we ever do goes by the plan. Take freeing Sam from Mogadorian capture. John only expected to get in and out with Sam, but instead, he got me.

And honestly, aren't I better?

John spots her walking about a mile from the high school. Her red hair blows in the autumn wind over the top of her green backpack. She wore a pair of tattered skinny jeans and Converse with a blue jacket zipped all the way up. The girl walked slowly with her head down as if she was trying her best not to attract any attention. I glanced over at the clock – 12:23. She should be in lunch about now. Anyone who would have known who she was would have known she was skipping school. I only knew because she was trying way too hard to seem non conspicuous. John pulled the car up next to her and rolled down the window.

"Madeleine?"

She looked over at us out of the corner of her eye, not bothering to stop. "That's not my name."

"Madeleine Paisley." He kept the car at pace beside her.

She turned suddenly. This time, there was no black eye or bruises on her face, just a tiny cut on her forehead. One hand pressed gently against her ribs as if they were hurt. Just like in the photo, she looked exhausted and annoyed. Her right arm slipped out of her backpack as she stared at us in confusion.

"Who are you?"

"My name is John," he said. "We know you're Loric. So are we-"

Madeleine bolted, dropping her backpack on the sidewalk and running. I fumbled with the locks on the doors before John hit the 'Unlock' button rapidly. I flew out the door and raced after her using my speed legacy, but she wasn't that hard of a catch. Honestly, she ran so slow an old woman in a scooter might have been able to catch her. She wasn't all the way down the block before she doubled over wheezing. I grabbed her around her waist and slung her over my shoulder quickly, but she let out a cry of pain. John squealed the brakes as he stopped the Taurus next to us. I opened the backseat and quickly slid her inside before me, ignoring all the punches and kicks she was hitting me with.

John peeled down the road, sliding through stop signs and anxiously waiting at red lights. Ella managed to hold Madeleine down with her telekinesis as I buckled her in.

"Madeleine, listen –"

Ella released the hold on her, and Madeleine slapped me.

"You creep, let me go!" She screamed, causing me to clamp my hand over her mouth, which resulted in her biting me.

"Ouch!"

"Let me _go!"_

"How did you get to Earth?!"

"Who are you?!"

"My name is Nine! We're all part of the nine future Loric elders picked by Pittacus Lore!"

"Bullshit!" She hit me in the chest. "Take me home!"

I tried to grab her wrist, but she was very jerky. I grabbed her left hand, she swung with her right. I let go of the left, she hit with the left. Ella tried again with her telekinesis, but Madeleine was too spastic to grab.

"Will you knock it out?!"

"Get away from me!" She grabbed at the door handle, but John clicked the 'Lock' button again. Suddenly, as if a light bulb went off in her mind, she threw her hands out at me. I flew back, her telekinetic energy thrusting me backwards into my door. It flung open and I fell on my back with my head hanging out of the car, but I quickly pulled myself back into the backseat. John made a hard left, making the door slam shut behind me.

But when I looked back up at Madeleine, she was surrounded by a pink force field that sparked with electric energy. Her already frizzy red hair began to charge with static electricity. She glared over at me, a fierce look on her face. I held up my hands.

"Madeleine, we just want to help."

"Let me out, now."

I nodded at Ella, who tapped John on the shoulder. He pulled into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant and parked the car.

"Madeleine, listen. We're not trying to hurt you." I lowered my hands slowly. "We're here to help you."

"Help me?" She scoffed. " _Help me?!_ This is kidnapping!" The electricity sparked out towards me. I slid a few inches away from her.

John turned around in his seat. "We know you're from Loric because we are too. I'm John, that's Ella and Nine. What's it going to take for you to believe us?" Ella looked between the both of them with wide eyes.

Madeleine raised her chin. "Prove it."

John sticks out his hand and conjures up a small fireball. He dances it around his fingers before the fire catches and races up his arms. He lets the flame lick up to his elbow before he makes the fire disappear. His arm was unscathed as he turned his arm over to let her examine it. "Pyrokinesis. Is that enough proof?"

The force field flickered hesitantly before disappearing altogether. "But – how –"

"We came here from our hideout to take you and your parents back with us if you would like. We won't force you, but we need all the help we can get."

She bit her lip and looked down at her hands, not responding. Part of me wanted to assure her that she would be safer with us than she would with her parents, but the other part of me knew that she wouldn't listen. She didn't like me, I could already tell. I couldn't blame her. I had already snatched her on the sidewalk, hurt her already damaged ribs, and thrown her into a car. I probably looked like a bum anyways. What was it Sandor used to say about his wardrobe? That good clothes make good impressions? I glanced down at my wrinkled tee and dingy jeans. It was clear I made an awful impression.

"When did you get to Earth?" Ella asked her calmly. She stuck out her small hand for Madeleine to take. She didn't. "I'm sorry we scared you, but there's no way you would have believed us if we just sprung it on you."

Madeleine nods, looking at John and Ella as if she is already trusting them. When she glances over at me, I'm not sure if I'm imagining the frown or not. "You probably know about my parents then."

I nod. "Wes Paisley."

She shoots me a glare. I frown.

"Yeah, Wes," she says, looking at John instead. "My parents came here before I was born. They got pregnant before they got to Earth, and I was born here. I had some health problems, which forced them to stay for longer than intended. When they thought it was safe enough to come home, they called my grandparents to get a ship back. While they were on the phone, the Mogadorians attacked. We were stranded."

"So they didn't flee?" I asked quietly.

She rolled her eyes. "My father was Pittacus Lore's son. No, they wouldn't have fled."

Ella cleared her throat. "It's nothing personal, all these questions. We just need to know."

"I understand." She shifted uncomfortably, and I noticed her hand went back to her ribs. "My parents know more than I do. We didn't even know anyone survived the attack. I thought we were alone."

"So did we."

John turned back around in his seat. "Do you think your parents would mind talking to us? We're supposed to be defeating the Mogs when they try to take over Earth. We'd like to at least have some kind of idea of what we're going up against. What all they know they have."

Madeleine nods, but I see the flicker of hesitation pass across her face. "Yeah, um, I'm not sure..."

"What do you mean?" Ella cocked her head to the side. She suddenly reminded me of Bernie Kosar when he listened to John's complaining.

"Whatever they know is seventeen years old. It's going to be out of date. No one back then really understood anything that the Mogadorian's had. They aren't going to believe that my grandfather kept a secret from them about the fate of Lorien. My mom may, but if my dad doesn't, he'll force her to stay on his side."

"Because he's an abusive dick," I grumble.

For the first time, she cracks a smile. My heart leaps. "Yeah. Because he's an abusive dick. You guys must have done your research."

"I know a guy," John says proudly.

"But we still need to speak with them just in case they want to come with us," Ella said quietly. "If he's the son of Pittacus Lore, he could be extremely valuable to our cause."

There was a silent agreement that she was right. We did need him just in case things went down the shitter, as much as I hated to say it. I didn't want to have to admit that we might need a drunk old man who beats his wife and daughter. I wanted to think that we could handle it ourselves, which we probably could. But, strategically, it would be a great advantage to have a Garde who was technically a legal adult and understood the in's and out's of all of his legacies. To have someone who was properly trained on our home planet could definitely be used as a secret weapon against the enemy.

But that doesn't mean I'll ever trust the bastard.

John yawned into his hand. "If you give me directions, Madeleine, I'll drive us there now."

I saw her shoulders tense as she nodded. "Okay. When you pull out of here, take a right."

But I knew that something wasn't going to be right. Madeleine was too nervous, as if even seeing her parents was a deadly deed in itself. I wanted to offer her some kind of condolence, that when we were around, we wouldn't let anything happen to her. She would never have to worry about her parents again.

But another part of me worried that I was beginning to do what I had feared on the car ride down here – that I would confuse my feelings about this girl just because of her name. When I heard them call her Madeleine, I didn't think about the girl sitting next to me that needed our help. I thought about the human girl I fell head-over-heels for. When I heard her name, I thought of straight black hair with bangs that was climbing on the climbing wall in Chicago. I thought about the girl I once loved, the girl that turned me over to the Mogadorians. The girl I saw get killed because she made a deal with the devil.

The past that I had desperately tried to repress and forget about was beginning to leak back into my mind. Perhaps I was beginning to get protective about this girl because of my own past. I had failed Maddy – my Maddy. I got her killed because I allowed myself to get sloppy. But now, I was presented with a chance to redeem myself. I could keep her alive. This Maddy.

And maybe by doing that I could make my Maddy proud.

John pulls the car out of the parking lot and follows Madeleine's directions to her house.


	3. House of Hell

_Three_

 _Ella_

The entire ride to Madeleine's house was extremely awkward. I didn't have to look at Nine to know he was getting goo-goo eyes over her. Why, I didn't understand. No doubt, she was pretty in the face, but she wasn't properly trained. She'd only be a dead weight that desperately needed constant attention when it came to the war. Hell, she could barely breathe. I tried to be nice to her, but I didn't like the effect she was already having on Nine. I mean, I had known him for weeks and he only thought of me as a little sister. Now, he sees her and he's almost about to start howling at the moon.

For no good reason, either. She kept glaring at him like she hated him, and then she _smiled,_ and he melted like a puddle. Maybe Nine didn't think he looked as stupid as he did, but there was no way she didn't know that he was hot under the collar for her.

And I was jealous. Anyone with eyes could see that Nine was attractive. He was physically the strongest out of the remaining Garde. His jaw line was to die for. He was fearless. His voice sounded like milk and honey. He was tall and smart – not book-smart, but he could make an amazing battle plan.

I saw him first. I was stronger than she was. And when I was their age, I'd probably be prettier. However, there came my first problem. He was seventeen, she was seventeen. I was twelve. I never stood a chance with Nine, no matter how desperately I wanted to be something more to him than just a little sister. I wanted him to hold my hand and tell me he'd protect me. I wanted what John and Sarah had, but with Nine.

But I knew that wasn't possible. He'd be 23 when I finally reached 17. By then he'd be an adult. On the weekends after the war, he would probably meet up with John, Six, and Marina to go out partying. They could drink and smoke whatever legally. I'd be stuck at home alone, most likely.

I glanced back at him. Instead of messing with her, he was looking out the window. He looked sad... I wanted to reach back there and hug him. He looked like he needed a hug, but there was no way he would want one from me. He'd want one from _her._ Madeleine sat beside him, bouncing her leg nervously. When she noticed me looking over at her, I turned away. I didn't want to speak to her.

From Madeleine's reaction, there was no way she knew him. So who was that other Maddy he mentioned? Mother figure? Girlfriend? Friend?

However, I didn't have much more time to ponder about it. As we arrived at Madeleine's house, I felt a slight pang of guilt in my chest for disliking her. Her tiny, two story house was run down. The green shutters were missing a few slats. Paint was chipping away from the wood. The lawn was littered with dead, yellow spots and was being overrun with weeds and tall grass. On the three step front porch, an eviction notice had fallen onto the doorstep. Inside the dark home, two people were screaming. The front door shook as something heavy crashed into. John reached for the dagger that was stuck through his belt loop, but Madeleine, who had opened her door but hadn't got out, shook her head, still mesmerized by the house.

"That's just my parents," she said quietly. "Don't worry about it."

John, Nine, and I got out of the car before she made a move to. I watched as Nine's face harden into its usual stony expression. There he goes again, acting like the protector for her that he should be for me. His chin was raised at the house as if it was a Piken that he wanted to behead. I looked away from him and down at my feet. John took no notice of this; he was too busy shuffling out of Madeleine's way as she sulked out of the backseat.

"Maybe me and John should go in first," Nine suggested, falling in step beside her. "Just in case shit gets sour."

Madeleine shook her head, her mouth twisting nervously. "Dad doesn't like company. You guys… Just follow me."

I rolled my eyes and fell in the back of the line. Of course, I was in the back with John separating me from the man I loved. Madeleine led us to the porch before she hesitated with her shaking hand over the door handle. The screaming from inside was as loud as ever. Something crashed. A woman yelped. It was obvious a fist fight was breaking out. Madeleine took a deep breath before gently opening the door. She peaked her head inside.

"Mom? Dad?" She softly called out but didn't step in.

"Oh look, our child is skipping class again!" Her father's sarcastic voice boomed. There was a thud, almost as if something had been dropped.

Madeleine shifted inside, but her whole body language screamed intimidation. Her fingers linked together tightly, shoulders down, and head slightly down. She started to speak, but he cut her off.

"Oh, and who the fuck are they?! Get out!"

I was the last to see the true devastation of the inside of her house. The living room was demolished and littered with broken furniture. The couch was over turn, and there was a man sized hole in the wall across the room. The power was out, along with the air conditioning. The Georgia heat that was trapped between these four walls was almost claustrophobic. Her mother laid in pain behind the older overweight douche bag, who was marching towards Madeleine. She took a step backwards, but Nine's stubborn chest blocked her path. I watched as he glared over her head at the man.

"Dad, just listen – hear me out – why didn't you tell me there were survivors from Lorien?"

Her father froze as his fists clinched. His eyes flicked up to us. "Madeleine, I don't know what you're on about, but those little _friends_ of yours need to go. Now."

While Madeleine was trying to stutter out something else pathetically, John stepped up next to her. He shut the door with his telekinesis before fire began to dance up his arms, down his chest, and around his legs. He smiled as the embers burned behind his eyes.

"I don't think we'll be going anywhere, sir."

Her mother shifted on the floor behind her father, who looked pissed off and uneasy. His eyes shifted from me to Nine before settling on me.

"What do you do?"

"Aeternus," I said, but I made no move to demonstrate. Why should I have to prove to this creep that I can change into a baby and humiliate myself even more?

Her father looked over at Nine. "And you?"

He didn't answer. Nine simply glared at the man. Madeleine, who was still backed against Nine's chest, spoke up once more.

"Dad, is what they're saying tr-true? Are the Mogadorians still after us?"

I watched her mother slowly pick herself off the floor. She held the side of her bleeding head before limping into the kitchen. The man never gave her a second thought as he scratched his head.

"I guess, if you three insist on being defiant," he grunts, "then take a seat. Anna! We have guests!"

The man, whose name I later found out was Wes, sat down roughly into the ripped up recliner and left the four of us to squeeze onto the couch. Madeleine sat in the seat closest to her father, John in the middle, and myself on the far end. Nine chose to stand against the wall beside Madeleine. I wanted to tell myself that it was just in case he tried to harm any of us, but I knew in my gut that he wasn't worried about me or John. He was worried about little helpless scrawny Madeleine. Ugh.

Anna Paisley brought out each of us a hot bottle of water, her head wound healed and cleaned now. She hurried back into the kitchen without making eye contact with any of us.

I watched Wes as he leaned back, propped his feet on the coffee table, and twisted open the bottle cap. He took a slow, drawn out sip before closing up the bottle. Then, he began to speak.

"You probably think that I know everything that went down on Lorien that night. You'd be wrong. Anna and I left Lorien a year before the attack to become Scouts for Earth. She got pregnant, and when Madeleine was born, she had a few problems. Doctors back home called us and said it would be safer to keep her on Earth until she got stronger, so we waited a year. The day we determined was the day to leave, I called my mother. She answered, and within minutes, I could hear the Mogadorians attacking in the background.

"We knew nothing then, and we know nothing now. We hid for our own hides. We couldn't rebuild the Loric population with one birth-defected daughter and the two of us. It was easier to keep us alive and a secret than dead and public."

I could only imagine what was going on in Madeleine's head right now. She probably endured this every day, getting blamed by her father for being the reason he wasn't there to save his parents. If being called "defected" bothered her, she didn't show it. Her eyes were trained on her sneakers.

Nine spoke his first words as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "So you hid like a little bitch instead of going after the son's of bitches that killed your people?"

Wes looked over at him, and for a moment, I could have sworn the temperature in the room was beginning to drop. The now-icy water bottle in his grip proved to me that I was right. "So the little punk can speak after all. Don't get all high-and-mighty with me, Boy. You ain't seen shit yet. You don't have two extra greedy mouths to feed."

"And you seem to do such a good job of doing that." Nine rolls his beautiful brown eyes, and I can't help but giggle.

Wes's fat belly struggles out of his chair, but Nine's a helluva lot faster than him. He sprints across the ceiling as he tosses the chair with his telekinesis. Wes slides on the floor before stopping at Madeleine's feet. He lets out an annoyed grunt before shooting icicles out of his hands at Nine, who leaped out of the line of fire. Nine once more took to the ceiling, but Wes was no longer aiming at him. He turned suddenly and flung John and myself across the room. I crash landed into the dining room table, while John went through a back window.

With all the breath knocked out of me, it took me a moment to regain my composure and look back at the deranged man. He was holding Madeleine in a headlock with her between him and Nine. Her toes were just lifted off the ground as she clawed at her father's arm to no avail.

"Get out," Wes growled. "Get out now. I'll snap her fucking neck if you don't leave."

Nine, who had drawn his pipe staff and was now standing on the actual floor, stared at Wes with hatred burning behind his eyes. Madeleine began to gasp and wheeze painfully. She struggled to pull herself up as she let out in a hoarse whisper, "Just go." Nine flicked his wrist and the pipe staff shrunk back into its pocket size. John carefully climbed back through the window, trying his best to avoid any more glass. I flicked my eyes between him and the standoff. I watched as Nine's broad shoulders fell when he let out a sigh.

"Fine. Come on, guys." He flagged me and John towards him. I frowned as I painfully picked myself up from the wooden remains of the table. I was going to have splinters in all the wrong places.

And where was Madeleine's mother? I hadn't seen her in all of this. What kind of mother would allow her child to be abused while she hid?

I followed John across the room, my eyes nervously training on Madeleine. Her face was turning a very odd shade of red as her wheezing got worse. Her eyes caught mine with fear and distress behind them. I looked over at Nine, who was already making his way to the front door. What was his plan? He was panting over her just minutes ago, and now he's going to leave her here? Is this the same Nine I thought it was? I hesitated in front of her, looking between her and the others. The two boys were walking away, but I could've sworn I saw a small smirk play across John's face. What was going on?

I looked back over at Madeleine once more. To my surprise, as she struggled again to pull herself up, she winked at me.

"Come on, El. She doesn't want to come with us to save the planet," John said. He held out his hand for me to take. I took it, and he pulled me towards the doorway. I looked away from her sadly, the guilt in my chest from my earlier resentment rising, when the living room exploded.

Or, at least, it seemed to. Madeleine released her electric force field and knocked her father away from her. He tumbled across the floor, his flannel shirt smoking, as she stumbled into the now-broken recliner, coughing fiercely. She rubbed her throat as the boys cheered excitedly. I smiled nervously.

"You little bitch-" Wes grumbled.

Madeleine let her force field down. "Dad, I think I'm going out for a few days."

"Like hell you are."

"Maddy, baby, don't do this!" Her mother rushed around the corner, her eyes wild and scared. "You aren't strong enough to go out there – please – stay here. You'll be safer –"

"The Mogadorian's already know about us, Mom. Nowhere's safe. I'm going with them."

"They're complete strangers!"

Madeleine began backing away towards the door with a wild smile. It reminded me of a prisoner finally being released. "It's better than here."

"Mad-"

Her father tried to get up, and the floor began to crack with ice. John gripped my hand tighter as he began to push Nine and Madeleine out the door. Madeleine didn't need any help; she was giggling as she hopped off the porch and ran to the car. Stubborn Nine, as usual, wanted to stay and fight.

"We may need him later!" John yelled as ice raced towards our feet. Everything it began to touch, anything that was laying on the floor, began to freeze over. I backed into the wall, begging for a flight legacy, when John jerked me into his arms and bolted out the door. Nine sprinted out ahead of us. The ice chased us off the porch and towards the car. Madeleine was already in the driver's seat, grinning wickedly.

"Hop in!" She called. I clinged to John as he sprinted to the backseat. He tossed me in before himself, all while Nine slid across the hood like on Dukes of Hazzard. He slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door.

"Drive! Go! Go! Go!"

The ice raced towards the car, killing the already dead grass in the process. Madeleine threw the car in reverse and squealed the tires as she cut extremely hard. When she shoved it in drive, I was scared to look at the speedometer. We were going at least fifty in the suburbs.

"That was freaking awesome!" She screamed excitedly and hit the steering wheel. "You guys are freaking awesome!"

Nine laughed loudly as his dark hair caught in the wind. John was even chuckling in the aftermath. I smiled some, but I couldn't help but feel nervous. If we actually wanted this guy to fight for us, kidnapping his daughter probably wasn't the best way to go about that.

We couldn't have left her there, could we? He would have killed her.

But still... We don't know anything about her. She's a loose cannon.

"All I can say is that's the best fucking legacy you could have gotten," Nine said. There was a smile as big as Texas on his face now as he looked over at her. Even if this wasn't the same Maddy as before, there was something about her that made him like her. Madeleine ran a red light. I closed my eyes and said a prayer I remembered from Spain.

"Maybe I'm just lucky like that," she said with a smile. Then, she coughed once or twice and dug her inhaler out of her pocket. As she zoomed past her old school, she stuck her middle finger out the window. The boys got a kick out of that; I just looked away.

Nine twisted around in his seat and smiled at me. "You okay, El?"

I nod. "Just perfect. Just a little tired, that's all."

He nodded and gave me another grin. "Thanks for helping us today. We couldn't have done it without you."

But I'm sure they could have... They should have... Because, now, from Atlanta to Chicago, I'm going to have to watch my crush chase after another girl.


	4. Chicago Bound

_Four_

 _Madeleine_

It wasn't until I merged the car onto I-65 that I finally felt the rush of what I had been missing: freedom. With the windows down and my father's icy wrath behind me, I felt invincible. I could expand my legacies and take on the Mogadorian army alone tomorrow. There was no power in the entire universe that could put a damper on my happiness. I was gone. No longer was I Madeleine Paisley, meek and timid. I was now Madeleine Paisley, bold and bitchy to those who crossed me.

"You're driving like a maniac," Nine said from the passenger seat, but I could practically hear the smile on his face.

"I'm just trying to make up for lost time," I said with a grin. My red hair blew around wildly, hitting the roof, my face, and probably John behind me. The driver's window began to roll up, and I felt the gas pedal press against my foot. The car slowed down to around 65 mph, and the green CRUISE light lit up the dash. I pouted slightly.

"I hate to be that guy," John said behind me, "but everyone else in this car is wanted fugitives. Unless, of course, you want us all to be gunned down in the middle of Atlanta, you should probably keep it under the speed limit."

I rolled my eyes by nodded in defeat. He was right, of course. I did need to try to not rouse suspicion. Unfortunately, as of late, I seemed to be unable to do that.

I glanced up in the rear view mirror. Ella leaned against her door, her eyes shut and arms folded. John glanced over at her worriedly before looking up at me with a tight tired smile. His blue eyes flicked over to Nine briefly. I wondered if they were sharing a telepathic conversation together. Had I not passed that level of clearance? Oh well. I could care less. These guys had saved me. If they wanted to share secrets, let them. I was just appreciative to be along for the journey.

I looked quickly over at Nine, who was punching different buttons on the radio. Random genres bellowed from the speakers, ranging from rap, rock, and gospel, when John hit the power button with his telekinesis.

"Dude-"

"Ella's had a long day," John answered with a calm voice, but I noticed the tightness of his jaw when he said it. "Let her rest." Nine scowled but didn't object. He looked over at her for a moment before turning back around in his seat. That dark shadow that plagued his face earlier was back again.

I kept the car cruising north for about an hour. I knew - sort of - where I was going: Chicago. I knew they were famous for wind and hot dogs, but I didn't know exactly how to get there. Ella and John had fallen asleep in the back. Occasionally, the young girl would slightly stir fitfully in her sleep. Nine reached back there a few times and took her hand until she stopped, but she never woke up. He would then let go of her hand and turn around as if nothing ever happened.

At some point during our trip, I caught him staring over at me.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to say 'May I help you?'"

"I'm pretty sure it's impolite to stare."

"Why didn't you run away sooner?" he bluntly asked with absolutely no shame.

"I, um... I did." I shifted uncomfortably. _Please drop this conversation, Nine..._

No suck luck. "When?"

"Last summer. I ran away to a friend's house. His parents called my mom, and she came and got me."

He nodded, still staring. I shrugged my shoulders. "It helped out a little. They began to check up on me. They were the ones who reported to the school the terrible environment I was placed in."

"Did the school help?"

I shook my head. "I was a trouble maker. They thought I was lying."

He paused before continuing my interrogation. "Why didn't you go farther?"

I answered him honestly. "Fear."

Thankfully he didn't keep pressing that subject, but he did keep talking. "So you're Madeleine Paisley, and all you can do is be the electric bubble girl."

I couldn't hide my smile. "I can also do a little telekinesis, but yeah, that's one way to look at it."

Nine nodded, but turned his head to look straight ahead. "I'll help train you. In Chicago, my Cepan built this training room. Maybe that can help you develop some more." His right leg bounced ever so slightly. Was he nervous? Were we going into uncharted territory? Did he have a weird fetish for girls from unstable backgrounds? Because if so, damn, was I his perfect match.

And that's where the conversation began while I drove. We talked about my parents legacies, their back story, how I ended up the way I did. He asked me about high school since he was never able to attend (lucky him), any relationships I had previously had (one, but I didn't elaborate). Nine and I spoke about my life and my dreams and my beliefs until we were crossing the Tennessee state line. When he wasn't talking or cutting up along with me, he was contently and avidly listening. I began to feel a connection with him, a friendship that was blossoming like a flower. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, but for some reason, I forgot he was a cold natured killer who offered to murder my father. He was just a guy who I felt I could tell anything to.

The feeling on that last part apparently wasn't mutual. It wasn't until I asked about his past that he seemed to clam up. I began to wonder if my curiosity had just ruined everything. He shifted in his seat and looked into the backseat nervously.

"Maddy- Madeleine, I'd rather not get into it."

"What happened?" I asked quietly. "I-I might be able to relate."

Nine scoffed and folded his arms, shutting me out entirely. "I doubt that. I highly fucking doubt that."

There were a few agonizing moments of silence where my anxiety went through the roof. My thoughts wandered, back to the restless Ella and John. Would they know? Did he look back because he didn't want them to know? I thought about he had mentioned other Loric that were alive and waiting on us in Chicago. What did they know? What legacies did they have? Would they be like Nine, emotionless and vicious? Or would they be like John, or Ella? Would they be completely different?

A question came out of my mouth before I had time to think about it. "Does everyone call you Nine, or do you have a name like John?"

He cut his eyes over at me, his mouth tight in a frown. I looked back over at the road.

"When I was running three years ago, I had different names. The last one I had was Stanley."

"Stanley? Like Stanley Yelnats?"

"Exactly like Stanley Yelnats," he sighed. He looked back out the window.

"Did you like that name?" I tried to tiptoe with my questioning. I didn't want to pry too much - that seemed like an extremely sore subject. But maybe - just maybe - I could slowly get what I want.

He shrugged. "It was okay. Some of the boys at the rock climbing wall thought it was stupid, but I wasn't there for them." A glossy look spread across his face, as if he was remembering something. The edgy, stony expression faded away. I didn't press.

"How good were you at rock climbing?" Maybe I could take away some of the pain in his eyes by diverting the subject.

He shook his head. "God-awful at first."

We kept on with the usual chit-chat for a little bit. I made my best attempt to really focus on him, but he was a professional at dodging questions. It wasn't until when John woke up and volunteered to drive that I realized how exhausted I was, or how large the bags under Nine's eyes had grown. I agreed to changing drivers, and everyone in the car switched once I had found the next exit. John and Ella crawled up front, while Nine and I shimmied into the back, where there felt like ten times more tension. There wasn't a cup holder between us. No separated seats, no hand brake, nothing except for one long back seat where the space between us seemed to be little to nothing.

He smirked at my awkwardness, but I stuck to my window. He would _not_ have the satisfaction of causing me to blush. (He did, however.)

As we rolled towards Chicago, I felt my eyelids grow heavy. I leaned my head against the window and wished for sleep, but not before John floored the tricked-out family car.

"Why is it that you get to speed and I don't?" I asked quietly.

"Because, Young Grasshopper," John said in his best imitation of Jackie Chan. "I am the fugitive."

With that, we sped off. Nine didn't offer anything else to talk about, and neither did anyone else. I fell asleep minutes later, and slept until John parked underneath the John Hancock Center.


	5. A Turning Point

Five

 _Madeleine_

The next few days were tense. Marina had given me her bedroom when we arrived, and she stayed with Six. Both of the girls were kind to me when we first met, but the awkward tension between us was quite obvious. John became easily distracted, often slipping off into the training area alone to let off some steam. Ella made it a point to ignore me, so I made it a point not to speak to her. Sam Goode and his father, Malcolm, showed me some kindness by at least trying to invite me into some conversations, but it never changed the other's minds. I couldn't hide myself from the nervous glances and the unsettling silence that would come about when I entered to room.

Even Nine was strange. He refused to speak to me around the other Loric, but when it was just the two of us, he would ask me if I was okay. His big brown eyes would grow soft, and he would give off a general vibe of sincerity. I always gave him the same answer: "I'm fine, Nine. I just need some time to adjust."

I couldn't deny that their actions hurt. Why was I such a pariah now? Why couldn't I be accepted by my own kind? They had wanted me. They came and rescued me, brought me back to Chicago to stay with them, and now... they ignore me? Why would they waste my time if they didn't want me around?

So I kept to myself. I only spoke when spoken to, and trained only when asked to. I ate alone, and I stayed alone. To some, my actions were a blessing. To me, they were the only consistent thing that has happened in my life.

After a week had passed, things began to shift. Sam had a break through with his Loric-tracking tablet, saying that he could now track a person named Adam. I came out of my room and listened just out of view to the commotion going on in the living room.

"I told you my dad was right," Sam said. I could imagine his skinny frame standing in front of everyone with his chin held high, boastfully beaming.

"He's still a Mog, Sam," I heard Six say. She was probably sitting on the couch, looking at Same as if he was a stray puppy she couldn't help. "He could easily turn on us in a heartbeat if we say something he doesn't agree with."

"Adam risked his life to save mine and my dad's life. He has One's powers that he's learning to control to _help_ us, not hurt us. We should give him a chance. Just like some of you need to give Madeleine a chance."

Six spoke up again. "She's been out in the world too long and was wronged by her parents. She's a flight risk. Doesn't her story sound similar?"

"She's trying her best."

"She holes herself up in her room all the time!" Marina snapped. "She's probably in there telling the Mogs what we're doing and where we are right now!"

I turned to head back to bed. There wasn't even a point for me to stay and defend myself when it wouldn't make a difference.

"Marina, give it a rest. Not every Loric who isn't standing here with us is going to turn out like Five."

I froze. Was that Nine? Was he actually defending me against these assholes for once?

"You and I both know that it should have been you," Marina growled.

"And if it was up to me, it would have been!"

"Eight made his choice, Marina." I heard John rise from his seat, and I turned back around to listen.

"What happened to him was a tragedy, yes. We all have the scar to prove it. But holding grudges because Nine didn't die isn't the way to handle the situation, nor is accusing Madeleine of being a spy without proof. She isn't going anywhere. She's going through a hard time. She willingly came from her family to help us, and she's got a Legacy we could use to our advantage if we teach her to control it. Also, if Malcolm and Sam trust Adam, I trust Adam. Where is he?"

"New York," Sam answered.

I peaked around the corner to see the group. Everyone was tense, but they were all watching John, who stood like a true leader pulling his people on the right path. I kept watching as they continued.

"When he gets here, he'll sleep on the couch since we're out of bedrooms. That way, to please both sides, we can keep an eye on him and he can stay with us." John rubbed his forehead and sighed. "I'm going to go train some."

"Again?" Six asked. Her icy blue eyes filled with worry and pity, but nevertheless she stood up. "I'll go with you."

"I'd rather go alone."

"I wasn't asking."

With a sigh, John nodded and walked towards where I was standing with Six at his heels. My heart skipped a beat. Oh shit, they were going to catch me eavesdropping! Just down the hallway behind me was an open door, and I took the chance. I slipped inside and pressed my back against the wall right before they walked past, whispering:

"Do you really think she's okay?"

"Six, just drop it."

I was crushed. How could they possibly think that I would join something that I didn't know about two weeks ago? Why would they have came and gotten me so quickly if there was an inkling of doubt in their minds? I could feel my heart beating against my chest quickly. My knees gave out below me, and I slid down the wall.

What was my point in being here?

After a few minutes, I picked myself up off the floor and closed off my emotions with a firm sigh. No. I wouldn't let them overtake me like this. I couldn't. I _wouldnt_. I would run away before I let myself keep getting runover. I knew of my innocence. Who cared if they didn't?

As I stepped out of the bedroom I had hid in, another thought struck me. If I run, they'll always believe I'm the enemy. They might even come after me so that I don't give anything over to the Mogs - creatures that I have still never seen. There would not be a way for me to defend myself from them. I'm weak, and, honestly, I'm helpless.

That was about to change. I rolled the waist band of my oversized pajama bottoms before I made my way into the kitchen with a bright smile on my face.

"Good morning!" I called cheerfully, swinging open the refrigerator door and taking out a carton of orange juice.

Everyone sitting in the adjacent room shifted uneasily. I loved it. Let them sweat it for a little bit longer.

"Oh, um, 'morning," Sam said, trying his best to plaster a warm smile on his face. "Sleep well?"

"Oh yes!" I beamed as I pouted the drink into a glass. "Marina, I can't thank you enough for letting me use that room. The space is nice. I appreciate it."

"I'm sure," she answered coldly. Sam nudged her in the side. "Um, I mean, you're welcome."

I carried my glass into the den and made a point to sit on the couch beside her, casting my eyes over to the expansive glass windows. "You know, I never thought Chicago's skyline would be that pretty."

"Oh yeah?" Nine said. The bait was being taken beautifully. "When we first moved here, I thought it was going to be cramped until I actually mingled with the people. There isn't another city that has this kind of people."

"Atlanta has some wild folks," I said with my southern twang, "but I think that river helps set Chicago apart. It's not like New York, but its..."

"Home."

"Home," I agreed. "A new home."

Nine shifted in his seat so he, too, could look at the view. "Back when Sandor was alive, I would run by the river every day. It would help me think."

"You think?" Ella asked, playfully smiling over at him.

Nine responded only with a smile and a shake of his head. He turned towards me. "You know, you've been stuck in here for a while. Would you like me to show you around my city?"

My eyes lit up. "That would be great!" I flushed suddenly. "I mean, if it's no trouble."

"None at all," he said with a smile on his face. "We'll leave in an hour. Is that good?"

I glanced around quickly. Both Marina and Ella were glaring daggers at Nine, their faces expressing both hatred and shock at his statements. I nodded.

"Perfect. I'll see you then."

And before I left to get ready, I could have sworn I saw Sam give Nine a thumbs up.


	6. Exploration and Destruction

Six

 _Madeleine_

Exactly one hour later, Nine and I regrouped by the elevator doors in his penthouse. He wore black jeans with sneakers along with a gray pull-over hoodie. His long black hair was tied back in a small man bun, which he surprisingly was able to pull off. He smiled at me as I walked toward him in the clothes I had worn in Atlanta.

"You might need a jacket," he said. "It's not called the Windy City for shits and giggles."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't have one."

"Then I guess we can be tourists and buy you an overpriced Chicago souvenir." He punched the elevator call button. I just smiled and looked down at my sneakers.

When the elevator arrived, Nine and I stepped inside. As the doors began to close, Nine called out, "Someone tell John we'll be back later!"

There was no response.

Now, I wouldn't want to rush into things and claim this as a date. If anything, I figured that the world being in danger was of far greater importance than me seeing a dirty city that I had no desire to be in anymore. However, Nine had unknowingly gone along with my plan by getting involved with my conversation about Chicago and had even offered to show me around. All I had wanted was for him to go out with me on the terrace so I could explain to him quietly that I had heard their conversation and that I wasn't the person that many of them thought I was. By getting out of the house, I could not only try to get Nine to trust me more, but I could also explain who I was.

Down in the lobby of the John Hancock Center, the concierge tipped his hat at Nine. Staff took extra care to step out of our way, watching us pass with wide, fake smiles. I glanced over at my guide who didn't seem fazed by their behavior. Maybe he had been right all along. Maybe this was his city. The people, at least the ones we had seen so far, knew who he was. I couldn't decide whether or not that was a good thing.

"Where would you like to go first?" he asked, taking me off guard as we stepped out into the chilling autumn air. The wind slapped me in the face, tossing my wild red curls all around. I tucked my hands down in my pockets.

"To get a jacket?"

Nine laughed, a smooth laugh that made me smile. "Oh, yeah, for sure. Come on, we'll run into a tourist trap somewhere."

We took a right out of the Center, past the gigantic skyscrapers and toward the river. People walked past us without a second glance, some with their heads braced low against the wind. The sky was a light gray which gave off a dreary atmosphere. As we walked, street vendors called out to us, asking us to buy dollar-store sunglasses, key chains, and other cheap Chicago merchandise. Nine coolly lead me away, ignoring their calls and cries.

When he came to the river front, the wind picked up even more. The smell of dirty water and algae filled the air like a slight nuisance. Nine, however, took a huge whiff of air and sighed happily. The cold, sharp winds were no longer my main focus; it was the way his eyes lit up when he looked around the city. It was the pep in his step, the way he smiled when he would remember times before he lost his Cepan. I watched a piece of black hair slip out of place and fly around his ear wildly, and I caught myself trying to reach up and tuck it away. It was the soft slump of his shoulders as he looked at his city in awe. He was home, in a place he loved more than anything else, and I was just happy to be along for the journey.

I could have watched him all day. I don't think I could have gotten tired of seeing his unaltered reaction to something he had been away from. I did not know the full story, but I could look at him and know that he had been dreaming of the moment he truly felt at home.

Nine looked over at me and smiled gently, but his brown eyes did not hold the same emotion. "Are you ready to go get that jacket?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm ready when you are, but I don't want to rush you."

He shook his head, tucking away that strand of hair that bothered me so. "This is about me showing you around town, Maddy. Not about me reminiscing."

"Um," I said, awkwardly biting my lip. "Can you please not call me Maddy? My dad used to call me that, and I, um-"

"Oh." He looked horrified. "I'm so sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to say that."

"It's okay, for real. It isn't that big of a deal."

He looked back at the water as if that physically hurt him. I pulled my hands out of my pockets and reached out, taking his hands.

"Nine, I promise it's okay."

He refused to look me in the eye as he pulled them away gently. His voice was hoarse as he said, "We need to get you that jacket."

Nine lead the way down the street silently, refusing to look over at me until we made it to a hole-in-the-wall trinket shop. Outside hung jackets, sweatshirts, and t-shirts, all marked down to a measly $30 a piece. After I purchased a gray sweatshirt with CHICAGO written on the front in yellow letters, Nine's demeanor changed. He went from sullen to cheery. At the moment, I figured he had gotten over his mistake and decided to move on, so I went with it. I smiled along with him, ready for my tour to continue.

"I figure I'll just show you around the parts of Chicago that make it my city," he said, his muscular chest puffed out just a little bit as a sneaky smirk shined.

"You know, you say this is your city, but I'm not so convinced," I playfully stated.

"Well," he extended his hand for me to take, "I guess you're about to get schooled. Come on."

...

 _John_

The punching bag's chain rattled constantly as I pounded away my frustration. _Boom, boom_ \- there went Sarah. _Boom, boom_ \- next came Mark and his shit head friends. _Boom, boom, boom_ \- a little extra for Setrakus Ra.

Six held the bag steady with her telekinesis as she leaned against the mirrored wall. She was drenched in sweat from practice fights after practice fights. We were pretty evenly matched, but her invisibility legacy often threw me off. As she stood watching me, I could practically feel the pity in her eyes. She thought if I just stopped thinking about Sarah that I would be happy. No, Six. That isn't how this works.

"Maybe if you just find a new girlfriend, things will get better," Six said for what felt like the millionth time.

I stepped away from the bag and glared at her. "Will you just drop the subject? I'm fine."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, John! You've been depressed for weeks! You've been trying to take your mind off of it by practicing, but if anything, it just gives you more time to think!"

"Well maybe I'm not just thinking about Sarah!" I shouted back. "Maybe I'm thinking about how I'm going to keep everyone we know from getting hurt even worse! Maybe I'm trying to figure out how the hell we're going to defeat the Mogadorians! _Maybe I'm trying to think of a plan!"_

Six glared at me for a moment before scoffing. I removed the fighting tape from my knuckles before folding my arms. I knew this tactic.

"So, you're saying that you think the rest of us can't defend ourselves?" Six rolled her eyes as she walked across the padded floor to me. "If anything, we're the ones who should be watching your ass. You've been so distracted lately, even Sam has said you're a flight risk."

"Liar," I growled. I didn't have time for her games. I needed to focus, to think.

"Oh really? If I remember correctly, he said something like you were going to try to run off and fight this on your own to protect the rest of us." By now, she was less than a foot in front of me, looking up at me with her blue eyes shining.

I stepped away from her and ran a hand nervously through my hair. "I'm not going to run, but I am going to stay ready. Can't you just drop-"

Sam cut off my sentence as he burst through the door, panting and wide eyed. Both Six and I turned towards him and instantly knew something was wrong. He gripped a cell phone in his hand tightly. His face was white-washed, and his whole body screamed with panic.

"Sam?" Six asked. I barely noticed at the time that she, too, had taken a step away, but that wasn't the problem at the time. "What's going on?"

He took a shaky breath before saying, "Adam just called. They _know,_ John. They found Madeleine's parents."

"Did they tell him anything?" I asked. I could feel that flame inside my heart beginning to burn bright. This is what I had been training for, Six. The inevitable. The end. The war.

Sam shook his head. "I-I don't know. All Adam had time to say was that they know we're here, and they're coming _now_. Adam says they should be here any minute."

Six rushed out of the room, almost knocking Sam over in the process. I heard her screaming for Marina and Ella, trying to warn them as quickly as she could. My best friend looked at me with worried eyes. "Where will we go?"

Inside, my rage sprung to life effortlessly. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is when I'll finally get my chance to go after Setrakus Ra and avenge Henri's death. That is, if he comes to Chicago. But I have the feeling that he will be close by. That basted would _never_ miss the opportunity to see us be killed. However, he doesn't know that we're ready to fight, and there's no way in hell we're losing to him.

I feel the familiar warmth of flames licking the outsides of my hands. My eyes lock with Sam, and the anger inside me brings a smile to my face.

"Go get one of Nine's cars, and you and Malcolm go load up quickly. It's time to fight."

...  
 _Madeleine_

Exploring the city with Nine... It was perfect in a very imperfect way.

He took me around to landmarks in his life and truly began to open up to me. He showed me a side of Chicago that I had never imagined. He took me to antique stores that his Cepan, Sandor, often sent him to in order to buy machine parts for new inventions. He took me to a bookstore that Sandor had bought text books at in order to actually teach him like a normal teenager. He showed me the shop where he had his first run in with the law after he "accidentally" stole a pack of Hubba Bubba when he was ten. After a little while, I could tell that bringing up these memories were beginning to stir up ones he had worked so hard to repress, so I suggested we take a lunch break from memory lane. Nine lead the way to a corner hotdog stand, where a large man with a XXL red apron greeted us.

"Stanley!" he said, his accent almost as thick as his burly arm hair. "My man! Where in the world have you been? I ain't seen you in ages, and now here you come, all grown up and with this beauty by your side?! Hey doll, how you doin'? What's your name?" The man turned to me with a wide welcoming smile.

"Madeleine Paisley."

Nine/Stanley shuffled his feet quickly as he answered, "You know how it is, Tony. My uncle got a new job, and I decided to join the military."

"The military?!" Tony laughed heartily as he flipped hotdogs on his cart's grill. "That's hilarious! You ain't no disciplined military man!"

Nine laughed too, and I even chuckled for added effect. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But that was really my only option. I've always liked that kind of stuff."

"You got spunk, Kid. Here, two dogs on me as a thank you for your service." Tony gave a mock salute as he prepared two hotdogs with all the works. I expected the hotdogs to fly away in these strong winds, but Tony held them firmly. He handed them over to us carefully.

"Extra sauce, just like you like 'em."

Nine smiled as he accepted them. "Thanks, Tony."

After handing me an over-sized hotdog that there was no way I could finish, he pulled out a ten-dollar-bill and dropped it in the tip jar. The vendor started to protest, but Nine insisted.

"It's my treat, really. Well, I have to finish showing Madeleine around town, but I'll come back before we leave town."

The vendor lifted up his spatula and said his goodbyes.

Just down the block was a small park, equipped with grass, trees, and benches. I followed suit as he plopped down on a metal bench and began chowing down on his food. In his jacket pocket, a smart phone began to ring. With sauce covered fingers, he carefully pulled it out. "Sam the Ham". Nine hit reject.

"Probably just Marina calling to yell at me, but frankly what's new." He bit back down into the hotdog.

Carefully, I sat mine in my lap and folded the aluminum wrapping back around it. "Um, Nine? Can I tell you something?"

He turned towards me with those big, brown eyes, and I immediately regretted bringing it up. "Sure, yeah, whats up?"

I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. _It's alright,_ I thought to myself. _Just be honest. He'll understand._

"Look, Nine," I said quickly with my eyes still closed. "I heard what y'all were talking about this morning, about how a few of them think I'm a spy or something. And I'm not! And I... Well, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not."

I opened my eyes slowly to see him nodding. "I know," he said with a mouthful.

"You know?" I asked with confusion.

"Yeah. I knew when I first saw a picture of you."

I paused. "How?"

"Call it intuition." I watched as he crumpled the wrappings into a ball and tossed them in a trash can a few feet away. Then he looked over at me thoughtfully. "You looked like the type of chick I could get."

I frowned. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, understand." His cheeks flushed ever so slightly. "Like you wouldn't be all drama, and I liked that. I trusted you because you _did_ fight back when we were in Atlanta. You didn't want to come with us until you were convinced, and I knew that you were telling the truth. I just... I just _knew_ , Madeleine."

And for some reason, I believed him. He was real, and he wasn't trying to force an agenda on me. I looked down at my beat up sneakers and tucked a loose curl behind my ear.

"But that still doesn't help convince the others-"

His warm hand covered mine and gave it a light squeeze. "I'll talk to them. Don't worry about it."

The butterflies in my stomach were going crazy. This is totally not how I had expected this trip to go. No sir-ee, definitely not. I could almost here the soft music that plays in the movies in my head. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him or hug him or some kind of expression of gratitude, but I didn't want to make things weird. In other words, I was nervous yet giddy. It was like middle school all over again, when you go to see Spider-Man at the movies with your crush and you brush elbows and think that you're going to marry him someday because of that elbow brush? Yeah, that's this feeling. I was suddenly coming to the realization that I was beginning to think that Nine, the over-masculine no-emotion beautifully handsome adorable Nine, was perfect in my eyes. It was as if time slowed, and I was the only one able to realize that he had faint freckles splashed across his nose, or that his brown eyes had flakes of amber around his iris, or that-

And then he kissed me. On the lips, hand behind my neck, pulling me closer to him in a way that told me we were both feeling the same things. It was electric yet sweet and perfect and wonderful and I felt like dancing in the streets and screaming and shouting -

And then it was over. Because down the street we heard the sirens again. People began screaming, and a middle age man ran up to us and grabbed us by our arms.

"You have to get out of here!" he yelled. "Chicago is under attack!"

Nine was immediately to his feet, his face that moments before was full of love, now hard as stone. "Where?"

"The-The John Hancock Center, I think," the man breathed quickly, but he was beginning to back away. "There's been a bombing!" And without another word, he turned and ran.

The atmosphere around us became a reality. I could hear the screaming of people hurrying towards cars parked on the streets, pedestrians frantically trying to get away from the location of the attack. Nine and I were only a few blocks away. I could hear Nine cussing as he dug out his cell phone. I looked up into the sky, and a lump rose in my throat.

"Nine," I said as I frantically hit him on the chest. But I couldn't take my eyes off of the monstrosity above me.

"Holy fuck," he whispered. "We need to go, right now."

"But the others- We have to hurry-"

"You can't run that trip," he snapped before he turned around quickly. "Hop on my back! Now!"

So I did, wrapping my arms and legs around him. My entire body was shaking with fear as Nine took off in a sprint down an alley. I looked over my shoulder as he began to run up the side of a building. Tony had left his cart there and had fled in the panic. _They_ were still there, however. Nine stepped onto the roof of the building before bouncing me higher onto his back.

"Whatever you do, Madeleine, don't let go."

I nodded. "I won't."

I could feel my breath begin to shake as well. _Not now, Asthma._ Damn you, lungs. Damn you, illnesses. Damn you, fucking respiratory problems.

As Nine jumped to the adjacent rooftop, I truly began to realize the weight of the situation. We were fucked. We had left the others alone, and the Mogs had arrived. Sam had tried to warn us, but I was too worried about making sure they didn't think I was a spy to care _. Oh how that backfired._

He stopped abruptly on top of an apartment building, and for a moment, I forget to breathe.

Because the Mogadorian warship fleet that silently sat over Chicago took aim, and suddenly, missles attacked the John Hancock Center mercilessly. The flames were up in seconds, and it wasn't much longer before we could heard the terrifying sound of the building collapsing.


	7. The First Battle

Seven

 _Nine_

Everything happened so fast. The kiss, the warning, the Mog fleet hovering above us silently. I never heard them fly in. I never heard the screams of the people around us. I was hopelessly distracted by Madeleine's beauty that I never noticed the panic of the crowds, and that thought terrified the shit out of me.

They had never known we were below them. They had been told a location - my home - and had attacked almost immediately. They didn't take a roll call before they began firing at them. They never knew Madeleine and I were here... They thought we were up there, where we should have been - where _I_ should have been, fighting along side my friends. And when they destroyed that building...

"Oh my god," Madeleine whispered in my ear. "Oh my god oh my god what are we going to do?"

I let go of her legs as I felt her slide down my back. My whole body felt numb as I stood there watching helplessly. I heard the people screaming. I watched as the rubble fell on top of pedestrians trying to run away. Everything inside my soul screamed, _Go out there! Go fight those bastards!_

But even I knew there was nothing I could do alone besides get myself killed. That's what I had been wanting for my entire life. I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, slashing throats and smashing skulls as I was taking my final breath. It was what I felt I had been born to do. As I stood on top of the apartment building, I knew there was no way in hell I was going to win this particular battle, but I was going to win the goddamn war.

Madeleine was saying something or doing something - I don't know. My attention wasn't focused on her. I did, however, hear her start to wheeze ever so slightly. I turned and watched her dig in her pocket for her inhaler, and then I looked back at the destruction before me. She hit the button on top once and took a deep breath.

My hands began to shake with rage. I wanted to kill them now, and there was nothing that was going to change my impulse. I wanted nothing more than to rip the heads off of each and every one of those fuckers. I took a few steps towards the edge of the roof, ready to run out in the middle of the destruction and fight, when Madeleine spoke up.

"Do you think they know we weren't there?"

I paused before pulling one foot away from the ledge. I steeled my muscles before answering, "I fucking hope so."

A lump rose into my throat as another thought occurred to me. The others... Were they alive? Had they been taken? The scar wouldn't appear on my calf because of the broken charm. The building had fallen. There was no telling how many innocent casualties had just happened. Were some of them my friends? How many of the staff weren't going home to their families tonight? I had grown up with so many of them. Their deaths had been my fault...

Just like Maddy.

Just like Eight.

Just like Sandor.

Just like everyone else I had gotten close to in my life.

I saw Madeleine start to sink down, but I stepped over and extended a hand to her before she could get comfortable. "Nope, uh-uh, we don't have time for that."

She looked up at me before taking my hand. "Bu where are we going to go? They're probably all in the city." I pulled her up before tapping my pocket. My pipe staff was still there.

I released my grip on her hand, yet she held tight. "I can get us out of the city, but... Oh, shit, get down!"

The ground below us began to rumble dangerously. People below us began to scream. I pulled Madeleine down below me to try and protect her, but suddenly her pink force field was surrounding us. When the shaking stopped, I looked over at the John Hancock Center. Madeleine gasped.

"Is that one of them?"

I couldn't help but grin. Atop the ruin stood Adam, covered in dust and coughing his head off. Mogadorian blasters began to fire at him, but he was fast. He took off running as quickly as he could, deflecting bullets with his telekinesis before sprinting down the street. The fleet began to follow. "You bet your ass it is. Come on, Let down your shield and get on my back real quick."

I could see the reluctance on her face as her freckled nose scrunched. "Nine..."

"Do you trust me?"

After a slight pause, the force field around us vanished before she hopped on my back again. I held on to her as much as I could as I ran down the side of the building. I dashed down the streets using my speed legacy, weaving in and out of stopped cars filled with people watching the commotion in horror. All around me, people were running in the opposite direction. When things would get too congested, I ran on top of cars. Somewhere during this, Madeleine tucked her face into my neck and refused to watch.

I stopped two blocks before the John Hancock Center at a now deserted McDonald's. The glass doors had been broken, but besides that, the place seemed to be in pretty good shape. I set Madeleine down on the concrete before turning to face her. I took her small face into my hands before saying, "I need you to stay here while I go help a friend."

"A friend?"

"No time for questions, okay?" My thumb caressed her cheek as she sadly looked up at me with those baby blue eyes. "Just stay here. Hide in the back. If anyone or anything comes through that door, use your legacy and hold them off until I get here."

"But-"

"No time." I kissed her lips once more. "You can ask me all the questions you want once we get out of here. Now go, hide."

Madeleine opened her mouth to protest, and I could see the snarky comment bubbling in her mind. Her forehead wrinkled with a frown.

"Please, Madeleine," I said quietly. "I'll be back before you know it."

With an annoyed sigh, she nodded and stepped through the broken glass door. Once she was out of sight in the back, I turned and ran like my ass was on fire. I could see the fleet moving straight ahead. Some of the small Skimmer ships began to land by John Hancock, letting out dozens of genetically made troops to attempt to kill Adam. Ah, that fucking Mog. Sam said he was smart and brave; he failed to mention that he was a little crazy. I was beginning to like that Mog more and more.

Police cars lined the immediate perimeter. I didn't have time to properly observe the amount of people being pulled from the rubble. News crews were beginning to arrive. Just ahead of me, a spunky brunette reporter stood in front of a camera man with shaking hands. The man counted down silently, then she began.

"Thanks, Jim. Happening live in downtown Chicago, what seems to be alien intruder - yes, alien- oh my god!"

Just then, I rushed in front of her ad accidentally pushed her over. I didn't have time to stop and see if she was okay, so I quickly turned the corner around the ashes. I heard policemen shouting at me, telling me not to follow the monsters. A few of them had already charged ahead, sprinting after the Mogadorian army with only their pistols and tasers to protect themselves. Using my speed legacy, I zipped around them and charged.

"Hey, boy! Come back!"

I ignored them as I was closing in on the small army fleet. Adam had been weaving around buildings and using alleyways, but the army never seemed to disperse or become agitated with his fleeing. In fact, they seemed a little cocky at the fact that they could over run this scrawny weak Mogadorian. They stuck to the main streets and chased him slowly and deliberately. But seeing their bald white skulls glisten in the sunlight just pissed me off worse. I didn't bother to hold in my battle cry as I plunged into battle.

I grabbed one of the back soldiers and thrust my pipe staff through his heart. The others turned and tried to fire at me, but I was too quick. I used many of their men as human shields, but they fell apart rather quickly, so I had to use a few of them all while slashing and stabbing their buddies. One of them thought he was going to get smart and try to grab me from behind while my guard was down. But, if there's one thing these bastards ever taught me, it was that I should _never_ be off-guard.

I quickly turned and ran up the side of the nearest building as the Mog held on tightly to my shoulders. I deflected most of the blaster shots, but one hit my hand. I cursed and held my hand.

"Bitch!" I yelled. I threw back my arms and the Mog fell roughly ten stories. I smirked as his scream ricocheted off of the nearby skyscrapers, and he crash landed into a pile of his own men, turning himself and a few others into dust. I ran back down the building and leaped toward the front of the now diminished pack, ready for battle. I had no idea where Adam was, but at the moment, I didn't care.

The Mogs bared their teeth at me and took aim, growling low in their throats. There were only about fifteen to twenty of them left alive, and by the time I was finished with them, there wouldn't be any.

The head warrior, with a red stripe of paint drawn down his vest, roared at me with his spiked teeth flashing. His men followed suit.

I roared back as black hairs fell in my face. My wild side was baring its teeth, and I wasn't holding anything back. _Now_ they all die. _Now._

We clashed.

And when the dust settled, I wasn't sure which one of us would take home the biggest scars. Adam ran up to me and caught me under my arms as I fell. Blood poured from my abdomen where the leader had shoved his blade through me and twisted, and with every pulse my vision began to fade. I could hear the policemen finally catching up, screaming for an ambulance. My legs gave out from underneath me, but Adam held me up. With shallow breath, I managed to speak.

"Go..." Blood splattered off of my lips and onto my chin. "McDonalds. Two... blocks down... Go..."

And with those last words, I steeled my jaw as best as I could and prepared to enter my own Valhalla. I had gotten what I had dreamed off. My blaze of glory had come. Adam shook me, trying to keep me awake, but I was gone in seconds.

I didn't see the light. I saw darkness.


	8. Healing Wounds

Eight

 _Madeleine_

It felt like hours before I heard anyone step inside the McDonalds. I had hid beside the freezer, squatting behind boxes with a knife in my hand. The entire time, my heart beat was racing, and my breathing was short, but I wanted to save as much of my inhaler as I could just in case the situation got worse.

The glass crunched under a set of boots. I crawled quietly until I was behind the front counter, and then I lifted my head just enough for me to see what was going on. I gasped quietly. The Mog who had ran out of the rubble was now setting a body on top of a table gently before tearing his gray hoodie down the middle. The monster, who didn't look like the others, was mumbling to himself. He had a lanky frame with shaggy dark hair. His skin was tanner than his warrior counterparts. Something told me that he was different than the others we had seen before. I watched him silently.

"Why the hell did you send me here, Nine?" I heard him whisper.

My lip began to quiver, but I bit down on it sharply. I felt the blood squirt onto my tongue before the coppery taste filled my mouth. No. There was no way... Anger bubbled inside of me. That jackass was _not_ going to get away with hurting him. I thrust out my hand and watched as the force field wrapped around Nine's body. It's electric shock tossed the Mogadorian backwards. He hit the counter with a groan, holding his left arm as he rolled painfully on the ground. I let the shield fall away as I hopped the counter and made my way quickly over to Nine's side. My lip quivered as I saw the blood pooling all over his midsection.

"Nine?" I called quietly, pushing his hair gently away from his cold face. No response.

I gripped the knife in my right hand. I looked up at the Mog, who held up his hands as he coughed.

"You did this?" I growled.

He shook his head. "Let me explain!" Coughs wracked his body.

I stepped around the table and made my way towards him. I was determined to kill him. He did this, I knew it. I was mere feet away, ready to electrocute him for the final time before I slit his throat, when he looked up at me. His eyes grew wide.

"You're Madeleine."

I hesitated. "Nope." I held my hand up, ready to blast him.

"Yes, you are!" He shakily stood. "Your parents - I spoke with them! Your mom, Anna - she was a healer!"

"And how do you know that? Are they working with you?!" I snapped harshly. It wouldn't surprise me if they were. He was my age, maybe a year older. There was no way he'd remember everything that happened during the attack on Lorien, especially when my parents weren't even there.

"That legacy is hereditary, Madeleine. You probably have it, too, if you just try." Shakily, he stuck out his pale hand for me to shake. "My name is Adam. I know Sam and Malcolm. I'll explain everything soon, but right now, Nines's going to die if we don't do something now."

"If you try anything - _anything_ \- suspicious, I ain't going to hesitate to go Medieval on your ass."

"I'd expect nothing less."

My mind was screaming for me to go check on Nine immediately, but I didn't trust this guy. Could he actually be the Adam that everyone has been talking about? I decided to risk the odds and say yes. I pointed the knife at him before hurrying back over to Nine.

I had to lean in close to be able to hear his shallow breathing. I quickly kissed his forehead. "You're going to be okay," I promised. Then I began to examine his wound. It was a gaping hole through his middle. His skin was ashen and cold from blood loss. I quickly pushed up my sleeves before placing both of my hands on top of his wound. His blood pumped through my fingers as I prayed for something to happen.

Nothing.

"It isn't working!" I hollered over at Adam. He began to panic as well.

"It has to work!"

"Well it _isn't!"_

"Just - just - think about how your mom used to do it!"

I let out a frustrated "Ugh!" Before closing my eyes and trying again. I thought about how much fun I had today up until the attack. I focused on all of the laughters and memories we had just made. I wanted that back so badly, because I knew deep down in my heart that if everyone else was gone, and I couldn't help Nine, Lorien was screwed. The Mogs will win. And it will all be my fault.

 _Come on, Nine,_ I thought desperately. _I need you. Everyone needs you._

Then my hands began to tingle and heat up. I gasped and opened my eyes. Slowly, I watched as Nine's muscles began to fuse together and the bleeding practically stopped. The color began to arise back in his face and body. His breathing became stronger as I felt tears spill down my face.

"Is it working?" Adam called. He looked out the window, keeping an eye out for any intruders.

I didn't answer. I barely allowed myself to move just in case I lost focus. After a few minutes, the last piece of torn skin stitches itself together, and I allowed myself to intense. I threw my arms around his neck in a hug.

"Oh, Nine!"

The only response I got from him was slow, heavy breathing. I leaned up and saw he was still unconscious. Gently, I rested my head on his muscular chest and let out a few quiet sobs.

"You did it!" Adam said cheerfully, whooping loudly. He was grinning from ear to ear when I looked up at him.

I nodded as I wiped my tears off of my face. "Where's the others?"

His face clouded. "Most of them were kidnapped and taken as prisoners. They... They had no use for Malcolm. They left me and him inside the building while they shot it down. We tried to escape, but I just got lucky. I couldn't find him."

My heart hurt. That poor man... He had been so nice to me for the week I had known him, and from the little I had been told about his close relationship with Adam, I couldn't imagine how he was feeling.

"I'm sorry," I said barely above a whisper. "What about Sam?"

"They took him, too. All of us fought like crazy, but there was just too many of them."

I pointed to the ceiling. "Are they still here?"

He shook his head. "They left while Nine was killing a squadron of their men."

I nodded before looking back down at Nine. I squeezed his once injured hand before bringing my lips to it for a quick kiss.

"We need to get out of the city before the police start showing up. They saw me hurrying away with Nine, but I just slipped away from them," Adam said softly. "I know you don't trust me, but-"

I shook my head. "You're right, but we don't have a car."

"Leave that to me," he said, looking over his shoulder to the streets. "There's enough stranded cars around, I'll get one no problem. Just wait here with him, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"No funny business," I reminded quietly.

He smiled, but yet there was still hurt behind his eyes. "No funny business. I'll be right back." With that, he stepped through the glass-shattered doors and headed out of view.

I slid over a metal chair and sat beside Nine, my leg bouncing nervously. I could hear my breath begin to wheeze, but I ignored it. All the adrenaline that my body had built up over so quickly was now beginning to fade. I could feel the soreness in my muscles more so than five minutes ago. I was beginning to notice how exhausted I now felt. This legacy was going to take its toll on me far worse than the force field; however, it made me wonder what other legacies I might inherit. Like my mother, I was going to be a late bloomer. Perhaps I might be able to learn my fathers Ximic or Light Manipulation. Him and my grandfather were some pretty powerful guys. Maybe I could one day have that strength with a little bit of training...

My wheezing was beginning to make me cough. I leaned my forehead against Nine's bicep and shut my eyes.

"It's going to be okay," I repeated quietly. "Just wake up soon. Just... Please." I sat up and kissed his cheek. Then, we waited for Adam.

Where we would go now, I didn't know. But I finally understood the Loric's hatred for the Mogadorians. Every one of them but Adam seemed to have a death wish against us. They had taken the others, and who knew what they have planned to do with them. Would they kill them? Would they experiment? Would they try to take their legacies like they had done with One? Now, it was going to be up to me, Nine, and Adam to try to find them and put an end to this.

I rubbed my forehead.

What had I gotten myself into?


	9. Taken

Nine

 _John_

We failed, simple as that. I failed them. I failed everyone. Maybe if I had made everyone train a little harder and not allowed Nine and Madeleine to leave, we could have won. So many "if"'s ran through my mind as I sat with everyone else in our dingy little cell, yet I didn't bother to think about what was next to come. I forgot about the future, because I was too busy focused on the past.

Sam was sobbing as Six held him in her arms, and I couldn't blame him. He had just lost his father for the second time in his life, but this time, it was permanent. We all saw the building fall with Adam and Malcolm trapped inside. Adam might have had a better chance of survival than Malcolm did, but nevertheless, both of their chances was slim to none.

Marina and Ella sat on my right side holding each others hands. Both of them had the same pissed off vibe about them, but the exhaustion under their eyes was undeniable. I listened as Marina leaned close to Ella and said,

"Everything's going to be okay. We'll find a way. We always do."

All of us had taken a brutal beating. We had fought our hardest. Hell, I had probably scorched everything in my path before I was finally overtaken. Marina had tried numerous times to create ice blockades over any entrances to keep out the Mogs, but their sheer numbers were enough to shatter them like glass. Six had summoned a storm and blew many of them away. Ella was using her telekinesis and hand-to-hand combat skills to try to keep them out as well, but our battle seemed to be short lived. They just kept coming, There was no telling how many Mogadorians we killed before they finally got the better of us.

They grabbed Sam first, which distracted Six and Malcolm. The Mogs pounced on each of them immediately, and once Six and Marina were both out of the fight, it was basically over. Ella and I were backed into corners and snatched.

They shackled our arms and legs before tossing us into a Skimmer. When they pulled away from the smoking building without Malcolm or Adam, we all started freaking out. That's when they began to beat us. I was popped in the face multiple times with the butt of a gun until everyone quieted down.

And that's when we heard the gun fire all around us. We watched out the tiny peephole windows as the John Hancock Center fell. I expected a scream or two. I expected a few arguments and bursts of defiance against our captures.

But there was silence. Sam was in shock. He wordlessly stared out the windows as the Skimmer pulled away and parked inside the underbelly of another much-larger ship. We stayed there for hours until they finally blindfolded us and led us off of the ships and into our prison cell. Then they unshackled us and tossed us inside. Collectively, we tossed our blind folds into the corner.

Now, here we are. Battered. Bruised. But still kicking.

I scooted on my tail over to Sam. He sat up off of Six's shoulder sniffling. He had finally lost his shock, and the real pain was now setting in. I reached forward and took hold of his lanky shoulders.

"Sam," I said quietly. "They aren't getting away with it. None of it."

"What are we going to do? We're stuck in here." I could hear his voice break as he spoke.

"They didn't get Nine or Madeleine. They'll get us out of here. I know they will."

Suddenly from down the hall, we heard a scream pierce through the air. We all turned towards the door and listened.

"No!" the woman screamed. "Stop it! If she's here, you show her to me right this instant!"

Next came marching down the hall. In their sinister language, we listened as two Mogadorians conversed outside of our door quietly before they jerked it open. The one in the front, with her pale chin held high and her black braids pulled into a ponytail, was a tall slender woman. The male behind her was as thick as a tank with a hungry look in his eyes.

The woman pointed at Ella. "You. Come, now."

I stood up and flared at them, putting a protective arm over Ella's chest as she stood as well. "What do you want with her? Where are you taking her?" I demanded.

"That is none of your concern, _boy,_ " she spat, reaching around me and grabbing Ella by the arm. Ella pulled against her. The man in the back pointed his rife at her to try to force her into submission, but once again, I stepped between them.

"It is my concern."

Marina scrambled to her feet, moving to the other side of Ella. The male Mog pointed the barrel of his gun at each of us in turn, unsure of who would be his biggest threat. Marina reached out with her hand and made a fist. The crown of the barrel began to ice over, but then it suddenly stopped. She thrust her hand out again, but nothing happened. I watched in horror as she panicked, opening and closing her fist.

"It isn't working!"

Six frowned harshly, but before we could warn her, she threw her hand out to try to swipe the gun out of the monster's hand with her telekinesis. The gun budged ever so slightly but didn't fly off in the way Six expected. She tried again, and with the same problem as Marina, her legacies had failed to work.

The female Mog laughed as she reached around us and snatched Ella. She grabbed a knife from her boot and brought it to my friends throat as she held her in a choke hold.

"Please keep using your powers," she said with and evil sweetness dripping from her lips. "It would make my leader's day to have even more of your pathetic legacies under his belt."

I rushed forwards to grab Ella, but the Mog pressed the knife deeper into her neck. I froze when I saw the trickle of blood trailing down to her collarbone. Ella gasped in pain.

"Don't you come any closer, Sparky, or you might just make me do something I'll regret." She clicked her tongue as she pulled Ella out with her. The male slammed the door closed, causing the cement walls around us to shudder. Sam ran his hands through his hair.

"What are they going to do with her?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but honestly, I didn't know. Marina continued to try to harness her ice legacy in any way she could for a few moments before Six reached over and pushed her hands down by her side.

"It isn't going to work right now, Marina. Stop it."

"Where did they go?!"

"I don't know, but stop trying! I don't know what's going on here!"

I balled up my fists before turning sharply and punching the wall beside me harshly. I just wanted to get out of here and do something. I hated being locked up like a caged animal. I tried to listen just in case we could hear Ella again, or whoever that woman was again, but to no avail. There was absolute silence from that point on.

We slept in shifts as we tried to keep our strength up. Everyone tried to work out in order to keep their body fit just in case the opportunity to break out showed up. Our captors would give us food twice a day on flimsy plastic trays, but all of it was barely edible. Sam refused to eat until we convinced him to try to keep his strength up. After protesting for a few hours, he began to nibble on his food, but he never finished his plates. We anxiously waited for them to bring Ella back to us, but after what felt like days of waiting, I wasn't sure she was going to.

On what I think was the fifth night during my shift, I sat down in front of the door and listened. I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn I heard scratching coming from down the hall. It sounded like long, strong nails scraping against the blocks that made our prison walls. The sounded persisted for a few minutes, and then I heard the low sobbing.

I leaned my head back against the door as I sighed. There was more prisoners besides us.  
Adam had mentioned that he had spoken briefly to some other Loric who were being held prisoner on the inside. They had just been transferred over to Plum Island, the research facility taken over by the Mogs, when Adam was about to leave. I wasn't sure who the other Loric were, but I did know that we were just outside of New York. However, I kept this information to myself as I realized that the US government was casually hiding the Mog's hostages away for personal gain. They were supposed to be protecting the people, not... whatever this was.

What had the Mogadorian's told them about us? How were we going to get out of this mess?


	10. Superman

Ten

 _Nine_

The first thing I remembered was the crickets. Next came the splitting headache as I woke up. Groggily, I groaned as I held my forehead before sitting up, muscles screaming in pain and protest. I looked around in confusion as my stomach growled. Where was I? I picked up the gray sweatshirt that had been draped over my bare chest but was now in my lap. As I held it up, I realized this was the sweatshirt I had bought Madeleine, and that thought brought a slight smile to my face. It quickly faded, however, as I began to remember everything.

I looked around. I was in a barn that held many stables and farm tools. I had been laying on a dusty wooden saw table that had been covered with a white sheet. A chestnut colored horse leaned its massive head out to sniff me.

 _Hey sleepy head,_ I heard its deep, clumsy voice say in my mind. _Nice hair._ Another horse laughed.

My legacy that allowed me to understand animals was often times _very_ annoying.

I swung my sore legs over the side of the table before I stood, stretching my arms above my head. I glanced around before I look a quick sniff. I smelled fine. I also noticed that my jeans had been replaced by a pair of loose yet warm sweats.

 _Hehe, he sniffed himself._

"Will you shut up?" I growled at the horse. He blew his lips at me before turning around in his stall so I could see his ass. I rolled my eyes. "Mature, really."

I heard a light pitter-patter of footsteps echo quietly in the barn before I finally saw my first face. Almost directly above me, Madeleine leaned over a wooden railing with her blue eyes shining. I dropped my arms and grinned up at her. Her red curls were loosely knotted in a bun on top of her hair. She replaced her beat up clothes for a snug pair of red flannel pajamas. She peeked over her shoulder before climbing over the railing and began to climb down the ladder.  
I met her at the bottom and picked her up in a stiff hug. She threw her arms around my neck and tightly squeezed, her legs bent with happiness.

She leaned back and looked me in the face as I continued to hold her. She smelled like coconut. I loved coconut.

"You seem to be feeling better," she said quietly.

I shrugged my shoulders. "A little sore. What happened? Where are we?"

She kicked her feet for me to let her down. "You've got a little catching up to do."

I released my grip so she could slide down. "Where's Adam?"

"Sleeping in the loft." I watched as Madeleine walked over to the horse that laughed a me and gently stroke his nose. I could have sworn he wagged his brows at me. "There's some extra clothes and things over there," she said as she pointed absently over her shoulder. "If you want to go for a walk, I'll explain everything. These cuties don't like it when we talk about the Mogs, now do they?" She kissed his nose.

The horse shook its head. _No Mogs, Mogs are bad, Mogs kill horses, no Mogs._

I smiled. I'd have to remember to tell her I can understand what they're saying later.

So I pulled on a shirt from the small stack of slightly-ragged clothes and slipped into a pair of worn work boots. As I laced them, I watched as Madeleine practiced her telekinesis by moving her shoes from the loft with her mind.

"You're getting good at that," I commented. I could have sworn she blushed.

After leaving the barn as quietly as we could, Madeleine walked with me through a luscious green pasture I could have believed was on Lorien. Rolls of hay sat in the distance as a herd of cows and bulls grazed lazily. I heard a few chickens squawking in the distance as the sun peaked sleepily over the horizon. The barn, which was ginormous and crimson, was the only structure for what felt like miles.

I whistled. "Damn, that's beautiful."

"We're in Iowa," she said as she, too, peered off into the distance in awe. "We're also in hiding."

Before I could press, she began to walk. I followed her quickly. She was walking towards the left of the cows, where I noticed tire tracks had made impressions in the ground.

"Do you remember getting stabbed?" she asked, not looking at me.

I nodded as I involuntarily felt my midsection. "Yeah... How-?"

"I gained another legacy," Madeleine answered. "Just in time, too. Adam brought you to where I was hiding, and you were almost dead. I wasn't even sure that was Adam, but I was forced to trust my judgement in the heat of the moment. He told me that since my mother had a healing legacy that it should be hereditary, so in a panic, I tried. And, surprisingly, it worked."

I watched her as she looked at the ground for a second as she walked. I wondered if she was thinking about her past and how amazing that legacy would have been when she was being abused. How hard had it been for her to trust Adam? Or me? How did it feel to be told things about your mother that you didn't know before?

"So while you were unconscious, Adam went and stole a car so we could get out of town. The police were after us, especially you and Adam. They practically had the city on lock down with barely any way to get out, but after taking a few back roads and laying low for a while, we finally managed to get out. Originally, Adam wanted to head straight back to New York, saying he thought he knew where the others were being held, but I refused."

"Wait, wait, they're alive?!" I stopped, beaming.

Madeleine paused, too, with a grin. "Yeah, but they were taken prisoner. The only one who didn't make it was Malcolm."

They'd pay for that.

"So where are they?"

We continued our journey as I tried my hardest to avoid stepping in cow shit. I even had to roll up my sweatpants so that they didn't drag. Madeleine, however, was not seeming to have the same difficulty I was having, and I envied her for it.

"He said he thinks they might be held in a clinic testing facility called Plum Island. He says that Serta- Set- whatever, the head honcho might want to see about taking their legacies and using them on his soldiers."

My jaw tensed. If they got our powers, we're fucked. Fucked, fucked, fuckidy fucked.

She then turned her head and looked at me with a smirk. "So, of course, I won out after we stopped by a little convenient store and saw yours and Adam's face on national TV. The camera crew you knocked over? Yeah, they followed you and caught your entire fight on tape. It was aired _live_. Everyone saw your legacies. They even gave you a nickname."

"Which is?"

Oh lord, she was grinning.

"Superman."

"Superman?"

Madeleine nodded. "At least, that's what the people are calling you. The government has issued a warrant for an" - air quote - "'Unidentified Extraterrestrial Terrorist who is a danger to the public'. The people just don't believe the bullshit. Everyone saw what they did to the John Hancock Center, and trust me, they're pissed. You _are_ their Superman."

I smirked. "Do you think I'm Superman?"

She looked at my feet. "I think you just stepped in manure."

"Ugh, gross, oh my god." I tried to wipe my boot in the grass as she laughed at me.

As we came to the top of the hill, I noticed that no more than 100 yards away was a white house with a lovely front porch decorated with roses and vines. I stopped. As much of a city boy as I've been, I was taken back by how beautiful everything was around me. It seemed so perfect and quaint and country. I loved it. Madeleine nudged me gently with her elbow as she smiled.

"Adam and I stumbled upon a little town in Iowa as we looked for a place to camp. A woman in town saw you in the back asleep as we were loading up a few supplies and recognized you. Mary offered to help us get on our feet. To be honest, I think she has an old lady crush on you."

"Just what I need - another woman to worry about."

Madeleine shoved me playfully as she headed off towards the house. I wanted to reach out to take her hand and just kiss her right there. We were alive and young, and for the first time, despite the story she had just told me, I felt like everything was perfect. I mean, yeah, I needed to go save my friends obviously. But if I could just freeze time for a moment and stay there for a little while longer under the dusk morning sun and watched as she made the world seem a little bit brighter, I would. I hurried to catch up with her, but even as she was making her way up the front porch steps, I could have sworn the roses blossomed more.

Madeleine knocked on the wooden door as she twisted a curl around her finger. We waited until an elderly woman with cotton-ball hair answered the door. She smiled at Madeleine, but when she noticed me, she gasped.

"Superman!" The woman's fingers brushed her lips as she opened the door widely to let us in.

"Um, Stanley," I said with a grin. "You can call me Stanley, if you want."

"Oh, oh, yes, excuse me. Please come in. I'm Mary, and my husband, Paul, has already started work. Would either of you like some breakfast? Stanley, you must be starving. Where's Adam?"

"That would be great, ma'am. He's still asleep," Madeleine answered.

We followed her to the kitchen, which was exactly how I would have imagined. Wall paper lined the walls, and red apple decorations sat on her counter. Madeleine and I took a seat at the table as the older woman began to drag out pots and pans.

"Would you like some eggs? Bacon? Sausage?" The gas stove ticked to life. As much as I didn't want to ask her to cook for me, I was starving. I nodded, and Mary began to beat eggs. After a moment, she said, "If either of you would like a morning shower, feel free to go ahead while I cook."

After a nudge from Madeleine, I took my hint.

She showed me to the back shower and brought me towels and clothes. As I made my way through the den, the small flat screen sitting inside the entertainment center caught my attention. The news anchor, who had dark cropped hair and a pressed suit, looked sternly into the camera.

"Where is this Superman? Where did he receive these powers? Genetic mutation? Some conspiracy theorists propose that our government actually _gave_ them to this young man!" He chuckled as he rolled his eyes, but I could tell that his eyes did not seem as dismissive. He tapped a stack of papers seriously. "After the break, CIA specialist William McKay is here to speak with us about this 'theory'. We'll be right back."

Damn. This had reached the CIA?

Cool.

"It's been like that since right after it happened," Madeleine said quietly as she touched my arm gently. "You're everywhere."

After that, I took a shower and ate a hearty breakfast of everything I could eat. Mary was extremely kind as she asked me almost every question she could think of. I vaguely answered her about Lorien, but I did explain that we did come from somewhere else. She seemed fascinated by everything as she listened intently. Madeleine cleaned up the kitchen as we talked. It was nice to be able to truly explain our situation with someone instead of having to lie.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Adam came down to the farm house and, with permission from Mary, took me to go round up the cattle on horses, who seemed to enjoy laughing at my hair. Mrs. Mary had even offered to cut it, but I put that off until later. Madeleine helped around the house and cleaned up around the barn for a while. Mr. Paul returned that evening with a truck load of feed, and Adam and I were asked to help haul it into the barn. In order to pay for our stay, Madeleine and Adam had been working, and now we were all pitching in together to help out. Mrs. Mary made pork chops and potatoes for dinner, which might have been one of the best I have ever had.

"So, Nine," Adam said between bites. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we might want to start making a plan for tomorrow. Sam, John... They're all still being held prisoner."

My blood ran cold. I had been distracted so much, I had almost forgotten. I cursed silently before nodding. "We'll leave tomorrow. Mr. Paul, Mrs. Mary, thank you so much for letting us stay."

"It's been our pleasure," Paul responded with a smile.

We spent a little while politely talking, but I couldn't deny that my mind was now wandering back to my friends. How could I have gotten distracted so much instead of focusing on the big picture? I had been asleep too long. I should have somehow forced myself to wake up. I don't know, but I had messed up. I was distracted throughout dinner, and after Paul dropped us off, I barely was coherent as I followed Adam and Madeleine climb the ladder to the loft. The chestnut horse, whose name I had found out earlier was Harold, shook his head at me sleepily.

 _It's okay, girly._

His buddies laughed. I didn't respond.

Adam holed himself up in the corner with a sleeping bag and a flour sack. He yawned as he climbed inside his makeshift bed. Madeleine went over to her palette, made of stuffed quilts and blankets. She had two pillows by her, and I awkwardly sat down beside her. Was this where I slept? She looked at me for a moment, and so did Adam. I looked between both of them as I hesitated.

"I can go back down to the table."

She shrugged her shoulders as she pulled up the blankets. "Um, no, that's fine."

Adam awkwardly cleared his throat. "So about the others..."

"We'll leave early," I said. "I need a hair cut to try and help disguise myself, and then we'll get on our way. Where do you think they're being held?"

"If I had to guess, Plum Island. It would make the most sense. That's where they took Madeleine's parents."

I looked over at her in slight shock as she looked away. She hadn't told me that. I paused before saying, "Then that's where we'll head tomorrow."

They agreed, and then we all laid down to sleep. Madeleine and I lay there in silence for a while before we finally heard Adam snore. Then I turned towards her and whispered,

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She turned and whispered in return, "It wasn't important."

"You're parents were taken. That's pretty important."

"Not to me."

I reached an arm out to hug her, and she laid her head on my chest. I held her for a while as the crickets chirped outside. The moonlight shined dimly though the small window, and I watched as thunder clouds began to take over the shining moon. She slipped her fingers through mine, and her shirt sleeve slid down her arm. I caught my breath as the jagged scar on her wrist finally became visible to me. She reached up and pulled up her sleeve as her face flushed.

"How long ago?" I asked quietly.

"A few months ago," she responded. "I just got tired of it, and I never seemed to be able to get away from it all."

I pulled her close to me and kissed her forehead gently. "Just don't do it again, please."

She nodded before wrapping her arm around me. We sat in silence, holding each other. I wasn't even sure where this was going. Were we going to make it until after the war? Hell, would both of us live? Was I just wasting our time? After a little while, I looked down and saw she was asleep peacefully, her small mouth slightly hanging open. I squeezed her lightly before watching the rain pat against the window. I was too worried about everything that night to sleep very well. A few hours later, as the moon began to take its leave, I finally felt myself slip out of consciousness. Nightmares plagued me mercilessly, and in each one, I was always seconds away from saving people I loved.

In one particularly, Maddy stood on a ledge glaring at me. I ran up to her to hug her. She was back! I wanted to kiss her and hug her and make sure she was safe. I forgot all about Madeleine or anyone else for the moment. As I got closer, I saw the tears streaming down her face. I stopped close to her before pulling her close.

"Maddy..."

She shoved me away. I stumbled, and the ground beneath us shook. "Don't do it, Stanley."

"Don't do what? Come on, get away from the ledge!" I stood to grab her. I wasn't above dragging her away from there, and I was about to when she held the knife out at me.

"Don't get hurt again, Stanley. Don't let her do it!"

"I..."

My voice faltered as her brown hair whipped around in the wind. What was she talking about?

I took a step closer, and the wind began to uproot trees all around us. "Maddy, let's just talk about this! Don't back up, just come here!"

Tears began to pour down her eyes as she took a step back. Her heel hung off the edge precariously. "We're just alike," she whispered.

Before I could grab her, Maddy jumped. I slid and watched helplessly as her body slammed into the rocks below us. I screamed as my heart broke again. No no no, she couldn't be gone. She wasn't gone. She's just a dream now, she's dead, she's dead!

I felt my shoulders getting shaken, and suddenly my eyes shot open widely. Madeleine was knelt over me as I gripped her arms with wild strength. Adam stood ready with a water bucket to pour on me as his hair stuck out like a psycho. I tried to catch my breath as they both stared at me in terror.

"I'm, I'm, I'm okay," I breathed quietly.

Madeleine stared at me as she began to wheeze. She had my arms pinned at my sides, and I noticed a red mark boldly making its statement on her cheek. She looked scared - no, terrified. She shuffled away from me quickly before racing past Adam, hopping the banister, and hurrying down the ladder. I swore I heard her crying, but my ears were beginning to ring, so I wasn't sure what I was hearing.

I sat up and rubbed my face. What the hell just happened?

Suddenly Adam poured the ice-cold water on top of my head. I sputtered and jumped to my feet, ready to kill him. He shoved me back, and I fell on my ass. I hesitated as I glared, but if anything Adam looked to be in shock.

"What the hell was that?!" he yelled with a cracking voice. The barn door slammed shut below us.

"What do you mean?!"

He shook his head and began to grab his hair as he paced. "You just attacked her! You were screaming about some girl named Maddy as you pinned her down and started screaming!"

"I- No, I was asleep!"

He shook his head wildly. "Nine, you were looking dead at her until you finally went limp!"

My heart raced in a panic as I shakily stood. My head spun as I looked around. What was wrong with me?

And suddenly my breath caught in my chest, and I felt my knees buckle. I grabbed at my heart as I hit the wooden floor. Adam ran over to my side and rolled me on my back as I tried to stay conscious, but it didn't work. I slipped away moments later, and the last thing I heard him screaming was for Madeleine.

She didn't come.


	11. Family Ties

Eleven

 _Ella_

After the Mogadorians took me from my holding cell with the others, they lead me down a long, dark hallway with their weapons steadily aimed at me. If I wasn't worried about the safety of my friends, I might have tried to fight back. I hesitated, though - Marina's and Six's legacies had stopped working. I knew it would be a long battle for freedom without our full potential. I was forced to wait.

They lead me past numerous cells that held screaming prisoners captive. One room at the end of the hall bore glass windows for walls. A woman in a torn hospital gown lay on top of a metal table with her limbs strapped down at her side. She thrashed, and I noticed that her wrists and ankles were bloodied and raw. When she turned to face me, her blue eyes grew wide as she screamed.

"Run! Run, Ella!"

My breath caught. _Anna Paisley..._? Madeleine's mother was here? Where was her father? My steps slowed, and the female Mog shoved me from behind.

"Go."

I followed orders grudgingly, but I glanced over at Anna one last time before being lead down another hallway. She was sobbing as her blonde hair hung in her eyes. I cast my eyes to the ground. I didn't want to watch her anymore.

After a few minutes of the same sterile lab walls, we stumbled upon a large oak door that bore an extremely outlandish gold doorknob. The male Mog stepped up and knocked, raising his chin high. The female grabbed me by the arms and squeezed. I bit in my lip in order to not cry out.

"Come in," a voice gruffly called inside. It ran chills down my spine. I knew that voice. I _hated_ that voice.

The male stepped inside the plush office before us, and, after we entered, closed and guarded the door. The female stood with me before a beautifully polished desk that was decorated by golden office supplies. A humongous man in a pressed business suit sat in a desk chair, writing in a notebook. His skin was covered in scars, with one jagged, purple one slashed across his neck. I watched as he scratched notes down for a minute before deliberately placing his pen on the desk. Then he looked up at me and smiled, his rows of sharpened teeth displaying gruesomely.

"Why, hello, little Ella."

"Setrakus Ra."

"Well, that isn't the way to treat your grandpa, now is it, sweetie?" He stood as he smiled evilly. "You two, leave us."

The other Mogs left. I couldn't help but notice that their heads hung is disappointment when their Beloved Leader didn't give them a gold star sticker. Boo-hoo.

He walked around the desk, watching me the entire way. I held his gaze firmly.

"They let you wear those shambles?" He scoffed as he made his way over to a closet across the room. "A princess deserves better than that." When he pulled open the door, I couldn't deny that the beautiful dresses impressed me. A red and silver formal gown hung on the back of the door, while cocktail dresses and more gowns lined the closet walls inside. Heels and flats of almost every color sat neatly in pairs on the floor, and everything inside looked to be my size. To be honest, I loved everything. However, I never moved closer to them. I held my ground stubbornly.

"It's hard to save the planet when you're wearing gowns and heels, Ra."

The Mogadorian leader shook his head in disappointment as he shut the door gently. Stuffing his large hands in his pockets, I watched him pace around casually.

"Ella, I know you're young and conflicted, and that's perfectly alright. You've been brainwashed from a young age to believe in a false hope, which I have to admit is partially my fault. I should have came for you sooner, but my strength then is not what it is now." He looked up at me, and his eyes were full of guilt. "You are my blood, Ella, and I love you. I care for you.

"The Garde will fall, my dear. And when they make a mistake, my army will strike to kill. I am giving you this chance to come to this side, to make things right. I don't want to see you die like the others have and will."

I paused and watched him as he watched me. That was a great story. Just wonderful. Bravo.

"I don't believe you," I said bluntly. "I don't want to be hidden away as a princess. I came here to fight with my people-"

"Those _brats_ aren't your people," he said menacingly as his voice shook quietly with anger. "They are vile and cruel. They will turn on you in an instant. I am the only blood you have left."

"They will not! They're good people!"

He took a deep breath before calmly saying, "You think they won't leave you? Who was it, Nine? Didn't he just abandon you for some ditzy girl with a southern drawl? He sounds like a great guy."

"That's not what- No, he didn't ditch me-" I sighed. "I liked him, yes. But the others helped me realize that we couldn't have realistically been together because of the major age gap. John helped me see that Nine would never be able to look past that." My heart hurt as I spoke those words. No matter how true it was, it hurt. I later wondered why I was telling him all of this.

"And yet, he was with her when we attacked, wasn't he?"

My lack of a response was enough.

"Hmm." He moved closer to me, and I took a step back. He reached out and placed his hands on my shoulders anyway.

"Ella," he said barely above a whisper, "I know you hate me right now. But you _will_ learn to respect me, even if it is the same way Five did. You have your own room set up down the hall, and when you're there, I want you to study my book."

"You mean your book of lies and propaganda?" I spat.

Setrakus Ra slapped my cheek, not hard enough to do any damage but enough to sting. "Do it. Immediately. I'll be watching. And when you're done, we'll try this conversation again." He tried (and failed) to give me a convincing smile before making his way back over to his desk. Before he let his huge frame slide into his leather chair, he said,

"Oh, and you might want to hurry. You and I are going on a family road trip soon."

Before I could think up the perfect snarky comment to fire back, the door opened. The same female Mog from before motioned for me to come with her. As I left, I glanced back at what I couldn't believe was actually my grandfather. What led him to all of this? Why? She grabbed my arms and started to drag me away, but I dug my heals in and grabbed the door frame.

"I have a question," I blurted.

Setrakus Ra looked up from his papers and raised his eyebrows calmly. "Yes, Granddaughter?"

 _Ugh._

"Why do you hate us Loric so much? Does it just get you hard, or...?"

Surprisingly, he gave a small chuckle before pulling down his shirt collar gently. The deep purple scar became even more visible, and I wasn't sure if it was really pulsing or if my mind was playing tricks on me. He traced his swollen pointer finger across it as he said, "Who do you think gave this to me?"

I didn't answer as I watched him.

"Pittacus Lore did, Ella. They tried to kill me for doing scientific research. I wanted equality between the Garde and the Cepan. The leaders, however, thought such advanced ideas were barbaric. They thought me trying to help your grandmother - my _wife_ \- was cruel. So tell me, dear: Am I really a bad guy?" His dark eyes bore into me with gentle curiosity, but behind them, I could see the flame of anger burning bright.

The question resonated in my mind as I was pulled away from his office. I looked over my shoulder and watched as the bastard used his legacies to close the door behind us. I also kicked myself for not immediately thinking he was wrong. I hesitated.

I hesitated for hours.


	12. Breaking His Silence

Twelve

 _Madeleine_

After the whole fiasco was over, I met Nine and Adam at the farm house so we could pick up our car and leave. None of us spoke to each other as we said our goodbyes to Paul and Mary. As she hugged my neck, the elderly woman I had grown so fond of held me tight as she whispered in my ear,

"If you need anything, let me know." She then slipped a piece of paper with their number on it into my hand. I whispered back a thank you and squeezed her a bit tighter.

Paul helped us load up what little belongings they had given us. Nine had a received a hair cut, one that was cut close on the sides yet slightly long on top and in front. He reminded me of a true military man with his handsome jaw and cheek bones, but I didn't dare tell him this. I appreciated that he was giving me some distance, but at the same moment, I wanted to be up in his face screaming.

When we piled up in the car, I took the passenger seat beside an already exhausted Adam. Nine sat in the backseat. As we pulled out of the dirt road drive way, I waved goodbye. I would forever be grateful for their gratitude, and I hoped they would be lucky enough to keep themselves out of the heat of the war. But yet, I couldn't help but notice the resilience in their eyes when they had first taken us in. They had done a service and duty to the morals they believed in, and they had put themselves at risk in order to do the right thing. If I believed in a god, I might have asked that He watch over them and protect them. Instead, I simply vowed that if anything ever happened to them, there would be hell to pay.

The boys tried to maintain small talk, but I didn't speak. Once we finally made it to the main road, the car was completely silent. I vowed not to be the one to start a conversation, and the boys seemed to have the same mentality.

Hours passed as we made our away through a few northern states on our way towards New York. Part of me was giddy about actually traveling the world and seeing all of these wonderful sights that I had never imagined. The change of the weather and humidity content was enough to excite me, let alone the other natural sights. The car veered ever so slightly out of our lane, and I reached over and corrected it quickly. Adam jerked his head up and widened his eyes.

"I'm good!" he blurted.

"Um, no, you're not," Nine said from the back. "Pull over, and I'll drive for a while."

Grudgingly, Adam did park the car on the side of a back road. I considered letting Adam sleep in my spot while I got in the back, but they had already played Musical Chairs before I had the chance to suggest the idea. Nine flashed me a small grin before he tugged his seat belt on. I looked away.

Before I knew it we were back on the road. Adam snored softly from the backseat only minutes later. We hadn't gone far before Nine tried to talk. My god, he was like an ADHD toddler sometimes...

"Madeleine, I know you're mad at me-"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Just - hear me out. I have a confession."

I looked over at him as I made an attempt to give him my best resting bitch face. "What?"

"I haven't been fully honest with you."

I started to make a sassy retort, but he kept going.

"A few weeks ago when I first met John, he broke me out of a Mogadorian holding cell where I had been held for over a year. I never said a word to them, not matter how badly they tortured me. When I was in that environment, I was pissed off but okay. When I left and was able to sleep without looking over my shoulder all the time, I began to..."

I watched him now, noticing how his knuckles were now white on the steering wheel and how his breath seemed shallower. "Began to what?"

"I've been having panic attacks," he said quietly as he checked his rear-view mirror to make sure Adam was asleep. "They come and go, and I've never had an episode as bad as last night."

"How are they triggered?" I asked.

"For me? If I stress before I sleep, I have nightmares. One in particular seems to set me off every time."

"How many have you had?" I turned in my seat.

"I've lost count."

I paused. "What... What's that dream about?"

Nine was clearly uncomfortable as he slid his hand through his short hair. He seemed unsure about it now, as if he had grown attached to the split ends and tangles he never bothered to brush. "Nothing good," he finally said. His voice cracked at the end.

If I had realized what I was doing before I did it, I might have stopped myself, but I reached out and took one of his hands into my own. He drove with his left hand as I held his right.

"You can tell me. I won't judge."

It took a little bit, but I finally convinced him to tell me. When he got started, I started to fear that he might slip into another panic attack, but thankfully, he managed to keep his composure as he told the story about him and his late girlfriend, Maddy. He was vague about it, but apparently he fell in love with her, and she was his first kiss. Then, she ratted him out to the Mogs and in the end, she and her parents were murdered by a Piken while Nine was forced to watch helplessly. It was the first time I ever saw him cry, and it broke my heart into pieces. They weren't sobs, but for some reason, the subtle tears seemed worse.

I was scared to say anything, so I just held his hand between both of my hands. He pulled it away a moment later and wiped the tears on his sleeve.

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to let you know I wasn't talking about you. I'm sorry," he said barely above a whisper.

"I forgive you," I said. That seemed to bring some relief to him, but the dark cloud of depression still hung on his shoulders. I made a mental note to see if, once the war was over, if he needed to see a psychiatrist for treatment. In that moment, he reminded me of my father - the little things setting him off. While Nine's involved memories, my father reacted to loud noises. He never fought in the Great War, but maybe... just maybe... both soldiers I knew might be sick.

We held each others hand until it was my turn to drive hours later, and I finished up by arriving in the state of New York. All of us, despite our infrequent naps, were exhausted. When i suggested stopping for the night, I could see the reluctance in Nine's eyes.

"We're all too tired to barge into Plum Island and look for them, let alone fight off swarms of Mogs," I said through a yawn as I pulled us into a slightly shady Motel. All I could imagine was the roaches under the bed and the rats in the closet, but according to Adam, it was cheaper than most. _That_ was right up our alley.

"The others have been waiting almost a week-"

"I just- I have a gut feeling they're all right. Tomorrow, we'll wake up early and head to Plum Island and get them, okay?"

Adam nodded sleepily. "Agreed. Car rides make me too sleepy to function properly." By the way he fumbled along with the door handle, I was convinced.

Nine agreed finally, and Adam rented us one room to share. Each of us would stay up and take watch. He said this as if he was meaning Mogadorian or police tails, but we all knew another meaning for this: in case Nine had another attack. Nine took first shift, since he had just woken up from his nap, and sat in a broken office chair. I laid out some clothes beneath me so I wouldn't have to touch the dusty comforter and prayed that I wouldn't roll in my sleep.

Adam, however, didn't hesitate to throw back the covers and fold himself into the STD filled bed. No, no, no. Ew. No. He fell back asleep in seconds while I laid motionless yet restless.

The story Nine told me earlier kept running though my mind as I watched out the huge window. A few cars passed us by slowly, while a truck pulled into the motel's parking lot not long after we got settled. I remembered thinking it was odd, considering it was almost three in the morning. I shifted (barely).

"Nine?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you close the blinds?"

When he got up and began to close them, he, too, noticed the truck. He studied it for a moment before snapping them shut.

"It's a white Silverado," he said to me. "I'll keep an eye out on it. Get some sleep."

...

 _"POLICE!"_ the male voice boomed from outside our motel door. _"Open up! We have you surrounded!"_

I jerked awake suddenly. Nine was tossing things with his telekinesis in front of the door and windows - the nightstand, TV, Adam's bed, Adam, the desk, the chair. Then he ran over to us and began to pull us to our feet straight out of unconsciousness. I started to ask something, but he clamped his hand over my mouth firmly as he crouched, pulling us down with him. We watched in horror as a flashlight beam shined through the blinds.

 _"One more chance before we break this door down!"_

Nine sent another bed flying towards the door, hitting it was a lovely bang. We heard policemen try to break it down to no avail. Nine moved his hand from my mouth as he watched. His face was like it was when we first met: cold, hard, and determined to kick some ass.

It was hot.

"How do we get out?" Adam whispered.

We paused as the banging continued. Finally glass broke as they threw a flash bomb through the window. My instincts kicked in as I sent a force-field around it, containing the explosion. The police outside seemed confused, but an idea suddenly hit me. I whispered it to Adam and Nine, who seemed to agree it was our only option out of here.

I jumped on Nine's back while Adam stood, prepared to deliver the first blow. I wondered why they weren't shooting us through the walls. The rogue Mog took a deep breath before letting out his battle cry, sending out a tremendous earthquake that brought down the front wall. Officers were thrown back and were incapacitated momentarily. Nine grabbed him around the waist as I caused an electric force field to expand around the three of us. Nine carried us as he sped out using his legacies, dashing past the cops and the SWAT team. Bullets ricocheted around us as we fled. Nine turned down the street and fled until we were out of eyesight.

"There's a chopper!" Adam called as he, too, clung to Nine. I was worried he wouldn't be able to hold both of us, but he never slowed up.

My head began to ache badly as I buried my eyes into shoulder. We weren't going to make it- There was no escape-

I looked up suddenly and shot my hand up and tried. I tried anything. My telekinesis kicked in and paused the helicopter's blades. My heart skipped a beat as it began to go down, spiraling around by its tail as it dove rapidly towards a shopping center parking lot. I tried to catch it, but the strain on my mind made me dizzy. I screamed as it landed and instantly caught on fire. Car alarms blared, and terrified public ran away.

"Holy shit!" Adam screamed. Nine took this opportunity to drop us quickly. My shield fell as I almost sunk to my knees, and if it wasn't for Adam, I would have. Nine broke the window to a Tahoe and quickly hot wired the bottom as if he had experience. I couldn't breathe as I watched. No one was crawling out of the helicopter.

I killed them.

 _I killed innocent people._

"Get in!" Nine yelled at us. Adam snatched open the back door and practically tossed me inside. The tires squealed as we pulled away.

I couldn't pull my eyes away from the wreckage until it was out of eyesight. I pulled my knees up to my chest and cried loudly.

Nine was sporadic as he ran red lights until he hit the interstate.

"How did that chopper go down!?" he snapped as he cut off a minivan.

In a choked voice, I whimpered, "I-I stalled the blades..."

He cursed quietly, again running his hands through his hair. Adam put his arm around me and held me as I cried, then tried to buckle me up.

"It's going to be okay," he said. "It's okay..."

But those people were dead. And it wasn't okay. I killed them...

I couldn't stop crying, but then again, I didn't try to until I accidentally fell asleep. Then, the fire was all I could see.


	13. Submission

Thirteen

 _Ella_

They kept me locked away in a laboratory room that they had converted - I'm sure at the request of Setrakus Ra - into make shift bedroom. I was only given a bed, a desk, a chair, and a book. The book that my grandfather wrote that is filled with many lies about the Mogadorian history. I had been given strict instructions to read it as quickly as possible, but like always, I tried to rebel. I tried to open the door and escape, but it was bolted from the outside. The only restroom was metal toilet that sat in the back corner of the road. I could only hope there were no hidden cameras.

I was lucky enough to have been brought three meals, one shower, and two changes of clothes a day. I didn't know whether or not my friends were okay. Were they able to change? Were they fed well? Were they okay?

Once I asked one of my guards if they were all safe. He was a smaller Mog with a slightly pinched face. I watched as he checked the hallway for any visitors before whispering,

"They're alive."

Then he slammed the door and locked it. It was enough to keep me going for the moment.

Setrakus Ra had instructed that I read the Great Book before we went on a 'family road trip'. I was nervous about the entire ordeal. I didn't want to read his stupid book. Part of me worried that I would be as weak as the Mogadorians were and actually believe him. Another part worried that I would agree with him. I couldn't side with that monster, but what if...?

I didn't want to think about 'what if'.

Eventually, after a day and a half of stalling, there was a knock at my door. I sat up in my bed and watched as the steel door swung open. Setrakus Ra stepped inside, now clad in a blue striped button down tucked into slacks. His navy dress shoes were polished and shined. He gave me his best smile as he shut the door behind him.

"Ella, how's your reading coming?" He made his way over to my desk slowly.

"I never started," I said boldly. He turned his head towards me, and we locked eyes.

"And why not?" I noticed the edge in my grandfather's voice that he tried to suppress. "I told you to, did I not?"

"I don't want to read your lies, Setrakus Ra." I felt my cheeks flush with heat as I said this - not from embarrassment, but from anger.

He picked up the leather-bound monstrosity and weighed it in his heavy palm. "This isn't optional, Ella. You _will_ read this, even if I have to use force. I'm giving you one more chance to do this by free will." He tossed the book, and it landed in my lap roughly. "Next time, I'm not going to be near as nice."

"As if you're nice now, holding us prisoner."

He raised his eyebrows. "How _naive._ Next time, I'll force you to watch as I start feeding my Pikens with your friends."

I held the heavy book in silence as he made his way back to the door. Setrakus Ra turned and looked at me over his shoulders. His dark eyes bored into me, and a chill ran down my spine.

"Do not make me come back in here, Ella."

With that, I watched as he left, slamming the door behind him. I balled my hands into fists to try and stop them from shaking. I rubbed my eyes with them as I took a deep breath. I had just placed my best friends on even thinner ice. What if he actually went through with his promises? What if I actually got them killed?

...No... He wouldn't. He wants their legacies too much...

Right?

My trembling hands fell on the cover of the Great Book. Here contained all of the evil that he has spread into the minds of his followers. He made them believe he was some kind of religious figure, when in reality he was no more than a science experiment gone wrong. The fact that, at one point, we shared the same blood line terrified me. I wasn't anything like him, nor would I become like him.

I shut my eyes as I whispered to myself, "You aren't him. You aren't him..."

I opened them carefully as I pulled back the leather and began to take in all of his terrible beliefs.

 **Author's Note: Hey guys! Thank you all so much for reading my story, and I hope you enjoy it! Sorry about the short chapter, but I didn't want to stretch Ella any more, and I can't spoil my ending already. Please leave me a Vote, Comment, or Sub! Thanks! 3**


	14. Where Are You?

Fourteen

 _Nine_

The sudden adrenaline rush the ambush gave me was enough to push me to drive North for at least half an hour. Madeleine tried her best to stay quiet as she cried in the back, and my heart ached for her. She _had_ killed those people - or, at least, we never saw anyone crawl out. But then again, we didn't stick around long enough to find out. I wanted to reassure her that she had saved us, that it was going to be alright in the end. However, that wouldn't bring back those people she had accidentally murdered, and I was forced to drive until Adam volunteered to take over. We swapped seats, and I sat with Madeleine in the backseat, wanting to reach out and comfort her without acting on the impulse.

Madeleine was slumped over against the door with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her shoulders would occasionally shake with sobs as she tried to calm herself down to no avail. After a few minutes, despite the yawning and sleepiness, I reached over and put my arm around her shoulders, gently pulling her closer to me. She made a squeak as she practically collapsed in my arms. I held her against my chest softly.

"I-I didn't m-m-mean-" she blubbered before falling back into her own choked sobs. I wiped her face with my shirt and held her as she wheezed.

"Where's your inhaler?" I asked quietly.

Wheezing and shaking, she slipped her hand into her pocket and brought it out. I helped steady her hand as she used it. When Adam glanced back at me through the mirror, I just shook my head. He looked away with a pained expression.

Madeleine tried to explain herself, but I didn't let her. I rubbed her back as she laid against me.

"It was an accident," I whispered in her ear. "We'll practice with your legacies soon. We'll get them under control."

She gave a silent nod before hesitantly closing her eyes. I felt my eyes drooping as they dared me to fall asleep holding her again. I kept remembering the look on her face when she realized I wasn't in control when... well, when the accident happened yesterday. I couldn't put her through that again, so I waited until I heard her soft breathing against my chest before I gently laid her back against the door. Then, I crawled up to the passenger seat and stretched my legs.

"I'll get us closer to Plum Island, but then we have to stop and rest. Or at least I will," Adam said quietly. "We're exhausted, and it's not going to be good for any of us if we're dragging ass going to fight."

I agreed. "But we can't rest for long."

We had already left our people inside for _way_ too long. I dreaded to think about what was going on inside...

"We'll rest and then attack at sunrise," he said. I watched as he glanced up in the mirror back at Madeleine, and I felt a twinge of rage build up inside me. Was that... jealousy? Was I seriously jealous of a Mog? Nah...

 _But they did spend a lot of time together while you were unconscious._

Thank you, Brain, but shut up.

We agreed as I shifted so that I could easily fall asleep. My back was killing me, and I was ready for seven muscle relaxers and a bottle of Scotch. As I closed my eyes, I began to imagine a party. Yeah, a party... Once everything quieted down and we kicked some Mog ass, I was going to throw the biggest bash of the year with a lot of liquor.

I smiled sleepily. Oh that sounds fun.

And soon enough, as I was thinking what color decorations we should buy, I felt myself slip away. My sleep deprivation caught up with me, and I fell asleep.

...

 _John_

I was beginning to think that Nine and Madeleine had somehow gotten killed in Chicago, but I didn't dare express this view to the others.

None of us had tried to use our legacies since the mishap when Ella was taken. Marina had lost her ice legacy, and Six had lost her telekinesis. I wished there was some way I could use my Ximic to try to use telepathy without whatever force taking our legacies knowing, but I never tested it. I didn't want to risk it just in case a situation came up where we would need it.

Sam had changed drastically since we had arrived in our holding cell. His attitude was meaner as he glared at every Mog servant who brought us changes of clothes every day and two meals a day. It had been a week, and they only allowed us to bathe twice by blind folding us again and dragging us out to an expansive dark room. There, they stripped us bare and sprayed us with rough hose pipes. Sam and I weren't as embarrassed, but considering the male Mogs kept pointing and mumbling in their language about Marina and Six, they were very uncomfortable as they hid themselves as well as they could behind their arms.

Last time, the person in charge of the water was pestering Marina constantly by spraying her in the face and chest, trying their best to get a reaction out of her that wasn't embarrassed silence. I stepped in front of her and took the humiliation as I glared at the Mog. He kept trying to go around me, but I would step in front of the water. They never tried that tactic on Six, who was more open with her body, but I could already see that Sam was ready to step up to the plate if they did.

Despite losing her major legacy and being publicly humiliated by a bunch of sexual perverts, things got worse for Marina. Just after our shower, her period came. They laughed at her and forced her to sit in her own blood for a day until they brought her a change of clothes. Even when they would drag us out to the toilet area, they wouldn't give her any kind of pads or tampons. Then, the process started over again the next day, and she would be even more humiliated.

We tried to make the best of a bad situation by assuring her that we understood, but that only furthered her embarrassment. She kept her head low as she sat in the corner of the room, trying her best to blend in with the rock walls around us.

It had been a week since the John Hancock Center was attacked. We all expected Nine and Madeleine to be here by now, ready to kick some ass, take some names, and bust us out. Once, when Marina and Sam had both fallen asleep, Six touched my knee as we sat together on the hard floor.

She whispered, "Do you think they're coming?"

I smiled tightly over at her as I nodded. "Of course. He won't let us down."

Would he?

We worried about Ella almost as much as we worried about what we were going to do. She never came back, and when we asked one of the guards about her, they just grunted and left.

I even caught myself listening for the cries of Anna or Gregory Paisley again. I hadn't heard him since we had been trapped here, but I had heard the mother twice. I would catch myself staying up late wondering what they were doing to them, and none of the answers I came up with were any good. Were they stealing their legacies like they stole ours? Were they holding them prisoner? Had they joined the Mogadorian side of this war?

I had no idea what was going on, but I did know that we were trapped between a rock and a hard place.

I looked around at my three friends - my family that I never knew I needed. Six had her head resting in Sam's lap as they both slept restlessly. Marina, too, was sleeping, as the blood changed the color of her pants from white to red. I wished I could have been able to help her, but I didn't know of a way.

I rolled over onto my side and watched the door. No footsteps shown from the dim light underneath, nor could I hear anything. I wanted there to be a sign that would tell me it was safe to try to break out. I wished I could have thrown a fire ball and burnt down the door that trapped us inside. I briefly considered it before remembering the possible consequences of my actions.

Then I turned and looked at the tiny barred window that let the moonlight slip through. I yawned sleepily as I lost myself in daydreams.

 _Where are you, Nine? Where are you, Madeleine?_


	15. Landing at Plum Island

Fifteen

 _Madeleine_

I began to shiver as the small row boat sloshed across Gardiner's Bay in the darkness of the early morning. Ideally, we would have taken a battleship and blew the top off of this laboratory, snatched the Loric, and left after flipping off the Mogadorians with the help of the US military. Unfortunately, Adam was convinced that the government was actually working to help the Mogs for some twisted reason, so we were left alone in a row boat we lifted. The wind blew my tangled, knotted, desperate-for-a-wash hair around as I zipped up a jacket we found in the hatch of our stolen Tahoe. Over the night, I found myself unable to cry any longer. When I slept, I was thankful I didn't dream of the helicopter crash again. It was all that had been on my mind ever since I made it happen, and the aching in my heart only stopped when I was unconscious. Out like a light. Dead to the world.

 _Kind of like those guys you killed who were just doing their job._

I grimaced at the thought. In front of me, Nine rowed in silence. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically, but in these moments, I admired him for his stubbornness. He never gave up on his friends, and he knew that he might have to sacrifice himself if that meant saving the others. My heart ached more at the thought of losing him in these early morning hours. He was a suicidal maniac who never cared about the outcome when it came to him being hurt, but damned it be someone he loved. Nine was loyal to a fault, and I prayed to whatever God that was out there to keep him safe.

Beside me, Adam began to tell us quietly about the layout of Plum Island. "When I left here last week, security was in panic mode, because a seventeen year old was able to slip in to a government test facility run by Homeland Security." I noticed the triumphant tone in his voice. "It's going to be so much harder to get in now, I'm sure. They claim to be the Animal Disease Center, but really, they specialize in forcing genetic mutations on helpless animals."

Nine shook his head. "That's fucked up in itself, let alone holding teenagers hostage."

Adam nodded. "I saw Chimaera when I was inside. I tried to sneak them out, but I was unable to."

"What's that?" In my mind, I pictured a creature from Greek mythology with the head of an eagle, body of a lion, and tail of a serpent.

"It's an animal back from Lorien that can shape shift into any creature it wants, mythical or real," Adam explained calmly.

"And they were testing on them?"

"Oh, definitely." Adam nodded his head with a disgusted face. "Some were scarred and battered. It was awful to look at." The rogue Mog began to explain the basic layout before he mentioned, "If they're here, they're being held underground with the animals. Above ground, the biologists make the lab appear to be strictly friendly tests. Below, it's like something out of a horror story."

Nine gritted his teeth as we came closer to the island shore.

"Stop rowing and let us float towards shore," Adam whispered. "They have cameras everywhere."

Nine pulled in the oars, and the little boat was slowly lead to the shore by the Bay's waves. There was a sickening aura coming from Plum Island, one that simply radiated hatred and wickedness. The square facility left a terrible shadow across the ground, and it seemed to grow bigger and bigger with every passing second. My breathing became shallow at the thought of finally entering this place and taking it by storm. I fumbled with my inhaler slowly and took two quick pumps, but the last one came out with a weak puff. I shook it and tried again to no avail. It was empty, right before I was about to go into battle.

Great.

I tossed it into the floor of the boat.

When we were feet away, Nine crouched out of the boat and dragged us to shore as quietly as he could. We carefully piled out as our feet crunched against the rocky beach. As I looked back, I saw how far we were from any people or help. We were utterly alone, and if this didn't go as planned...

"The main entrance is around to the side," Adam whispered as he squatted down beside the boat. "I used one of the service entrances last time, so I think we should do that again."

"And don't you think they'll see your strategy again?" Nine whispered as he stooped down beside me. I steadied myself by placing my hand on his knee.

"The US government didn't notice when the Koreans used George Washington's strategies against them, and I'm pretty sure that was a bigger war than this was."

I raised my eyebrows. He had a point.

"Just follow me once we get in there," Adam whispered.

We made our way from the boat, running with light steps and trying to stay away from all of the bright flood lights that might alert them of our appearance. The service entrance was simply two doors that opened up to the underground levels for the animals to enter through. Posted in front of them, two military men in green jumpsuits stood with m14's held to their chest. The brim of their hats were tugged low, but it was easy to see that they were human. I still had never seen a Mogadorian, and honestly, I was dreading it.

Nine was the first one to act, snatching the guns out of their hands with his telekinesis before charging them. Adam and I were right behind him. Nine grabbed one by the head and landed a sucker punch to his face while I threw the other off of his feet with my shield. Adam caught and rolled him before holding him in a choke hold until he passed out. Nine punched the soldier once more before his knees crumpled below him. We dragged them to the side of the building before we went through their pockets quickly. Nine shouldered one of the m14's and handed the other to Adam.

"I don't like guns," Adam said as he handled it awkwardly.

"Well then give it to me," I said. Adam passed the gun over after I stuck a few magazines into the waist band of my jeans. Nine followed suit, and Adam was left with only a K-Bar and his legacies. We took a security pass card from one of the unconscious guards and swiped it, allowing the doors to open with a pleasant "click!". Before we entered, I took a deep breath to try and steel my nerves.

I felt Nine's hand squeeze mine gently. I looked up at him as he gave a reassuring smile.

"You're going to be okay." He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it.

Then it was back to business. His face became cold again as he chambered a round, and Adam opened the door suddenly. Nine and I pulled the guns up and rushed inside.

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the cliff hanger, but the next chapter is going to be the real action. I just didn't want to make this one too long! Stay tuned!**


	16. Taking What's Ours

Sixteen

 _Madeleine_

Once we were inside, which happened to be a long hallway that reminded me of a hospital, things took a sudden turn for the worse. The smell was awful - like feces that had sat for weeks in the hot sun. Next came the hoards of monsters, whose skin was the color of a bruise and features resembled some kind of mangled shark. My breath caught in my throat as I stopped just inside the doorway with the M14 pointed downward.

They were _horrible._ They were so much worse than I imagined as they turned towards us from all around with sharp bared teeth. They acted as if we had interrupted their workings as they shoved away carts and dropped clipboards. As they scrambled to unclip the blasters that were attached to their hip, my whole body felt frozen. Their eyes were black, their teeth were sharpened to points, and they were screaming and shouting in some language that vaguely reminded me of Parseltongue. A shot buzzed past my ear as Nine let out a battle cry to my left and sprung into action, spraying the meaty crowd with bullets. A few roared as they began to fire back, and my mind snapped out of his trance. Adam pressed himself against the wall as he began to summon his earthquake legacy, his eyes shut and hands spread. Nine was sprinting on the ceiling, firing like a wild man. My whole body quivered as I raised the gun and fired a bullet, praying it hit something.

It did.

It hit the wall.

"Fuck," I mumbled under my breath as the Mogs began to rush at us. My fear took over as I began to fire rapidly, turning a few of the vat-borns to dust. One managed to get a blaster shot in my thigh, and I went to the floor with a small scream as my vision swam with tears. I pressed my palm to my now bleeding thigh and tried my best to tack off a few more, but there was too many for me to handle. The alarms were blaring, and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that reinforcement were coming. They were running at me fast, and while Nine was killing the ones bringing up the rear, I saw the sudden panic on his face. They were looking at me. They were coming for _me._ I tried to pop off another round when-

The gun clicked. I let it fall into my lap as I struggled to pull the empty magazine. Blood oozed through my fingers rapidly as my free hand trembled. The magazine wasn't going in, the magazine wasn't going in, and they were getting closer oh fuck fuck fuck!

Suddenly Adam let out a grunt, and a wave of underground energy threw me and the Mogs against the wall. I cried out as my whole body swam with pain. My eyes were in a daze as I heard my gun clatter away from me, and a few of the extra magazines were snatched out of my belt.

"USE IT!" I heard Nine command beside me as he sprayed the slightly distracted hoard of Mogadorian soldiers that were scrambling to their feet.

My ears began to ring. So loud... My jaw hung slack in my daze as blood from my busted lip dribbled onto my chin. I reached up, my equilibrium fucked up, and I ended up touching my forehead instead of covering my ear. As I slid my hand back, I felt the thick pool of blood drag across my skin.

 _Oh that's not good_...

Two strong hands grabbed my shoulders and gently gave me a shake. I snapped my head up to see Nine, or nine Nine's, yelling something to me, but all I heard was a high pitched ringing. His mouth moved, and his facial expression told me he was trying to say something, but I couldn't hear it. I just shook my head as best I could and reached for my buzzing ears, but he gently pulled my hand away and shook his head. He turned to Adam with a pissed off glare and began to yell something at him.

I could feel my blood pulsing. _Thump, thump, thump, thump_ at a rough pace, and the blood was still pouring through the hole in my thigh. My head hurt badly, and I was so tired. I slumped forward against Nine and felt the vibrations from his voice come through my body. He was being loud, too loud, and I couldn't hear a thing. My eyes grew heavy as I leaned against his shoulder, and soon I began to feel warm. Not like a fever, but as if a nice heated blanket had been draped over my shoulders. My thoughts began to drift about how nice it would be to sleep so that this head ache might go away, but Nine didn't give me that luxury as he pushed me up and patted me quickly on the cheeks. I tried to let my head slump forward, but he wouldn't let me as Adam took off down the hall. I watched exhaustedly as he shook his head again, and his eyes looked so worried and sad... so worried and sad...

I reached up and touched his face with my blood-covered hand and gave him my best attempt at a pained smile. He pressed his hand against mine, but that didn't make him happy. He looked even sadder... I took a deep breath, but I could feel a deep rattling in my chest. That definitely wasn't good...

Nine suddenly turned to look down the hallway, and his face paled. I watched him scramble for an abandoned clipboard before he snatched a pen from the dust covered ground. Then, he began to write something haphazardly before flipping it for me to read.

 **MOGS. UR HURT BAD. HIDE.**

I nodded. He was right, and I knew it. I was stuck in a sleepy daze, and I could feel it becoming harder to breathe. Pain throbbed from my leg and head, and it became obvious that a few of the bones in side were shattered. I began to think back to my legacies, but I barely had the energy to stand up, considering that Nine practically wrapped his arms around me and carried me into an office that smelled like shit. It was furnished like a normal office, with a desk and rolling chair, but Nine kicked the chair away as he placed me underneath the desk.

 **STAY. I'LL COME GET U.**

I gave him a weak thumbs up.

With that, Nine gave one last pitiful glance back at me before he sprinted down the hallway.

I leaned my bloody head against the under paneling of the desk with hairs sticking to my cut, listening to the constant ringing in my ears. The pain that persisted throughout my entire body was almost too much to bear, and yet I was trying to think clearly. Nausea, dizziness, head injuy... probably a concussion. I began to feel weak as I realized the amount of blood I was losing. Shaking, I pressed my hands to my open wound and shut my eyes.

Had to heal myself before those _things_ came back.

Had to be ready to fight.

I focused on turning on my legacy, and when it did, my whole body felt as if I had drained all of my energy. My eyelids flittered, but I fought to stay awake.

My asthma was slowly beginning to kick in as the muscle in my leg began to stitch together, but soon the pain became too much. I wasn't sure how much healing progress I had made before I slipped away.

...

 _John_

When the ground trembled with a great force, all four of us leapt to our feet, gripping the walls as small pieces of rock and dust rained on our heads. Next we listened to the rapid gunfire echoing from above and the commotion that began to follow. Hoards of Mogadorians sprinted past our cell to join the fight.

I couldn't hide the wicked smile that spread across my face. I made eye contact with Six as we heard that familiar commanding voice bark at someone from up above.

 _"GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR! NOW!"_ There was more gunfire and more Mogadorian roars, but nothing seemed to slow the battle from above.

"I think Nine's here," Six said sneakily as she grinned. Everyone was grinning, and if I hadn't been self disciplining myself for days to not use my legacies, I might have thrown the hinges off the door just so I could join him. I wanted to make these bastards pay, and I couldn't think of a better soldier to be by my side as I did it.

Sam, whose hair was standing in every direction and eyes were as dark as coal, rushed towards the door and began to bang with open palms. "YOU HEAR THAT, SHIT FACES? BETTER GET USED TO IT BECAUSE WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE I'M GONNA DO IT MYSELF! I'M GONNA FUCK YOU UP! YOU HEAR ME, ASSHOLE?!"

The vat-borns running past us ignored him, and Sam continued his pounding. Marina, who was still covered in her own blood, stretched before nodding to the door.

"How are we getting out of here?"

We couldn't use our legacies without losing them, and frankly, I didn't think I was going to be capable of knocking it down without them. For a moment, I considered just sacrificing my telekinesis so that we could escape, but I quickly dismissed the thought. I was not willing to risk our lives just because I was impatient.

Then my mind thought back to Ella, and how we had not seen her since day one. Was she okay? Was she hurt? I didn't want to leave her behind, and none of us four were truly strong enough to run and find her on our own, especially Six and Marina.

I chewed my lower lip. "We're going to wait on Nine. He's coming."

Six's eyes glinted evilly as she listen. I knew that look because I felt that same blood lust.

The Mogadorians were going to pay.

...

 _Ella_

I had been sitting at my desk, reluctantly reading my grandfather's book of lies, when I first heard the battle raging from above. The roars of Mogadorians was deafening, but the gunshots were even louder. I gripped the desk and listened with glee as the revolution began. Finally, after a week of silence, Nine was here! Madeleine was probably there, too, but Nine! He was going to save us! I jumped up from my chair, gathering the bottom of my long green dress that I was forced to wear, and ran barefooted over to the metal door. I tucked my hair behind my ear before pressing it against the door, listening to the thunderous commotion coming from outside. The pounding of heavy footsteps, the raspy Mog language being bellowed... It was the sound of a battle I was dying to be a part of.

The deadbolts outside of my door began to twist, and I took a few steps away just in time to not bumped into. The same female and male Mogs that brought me in here stood, their weapons locked, loaded, and pointed to the floor, with their chins raised. Their faces were expressionless as the male stepped inside and reached out his hand.

"Arms."

I shook my head. "No."

His lip curled. "Give me your arms, or I will do this by force. We do not have time for your silly little games."

I took a step back boldly. "Touch me, and I'll kill you."

Like a flash, his gun was pressed against my forehead, and his thick finger rested on the trigger. "Arms. Now."

My jaw tightened as I, hesitantly, held out my arms, keeping firm eye contact with the male. The female stepped inside and clamped thick, heavy handcuffs around my wrists. Then, she grabbed the roughly and practically drug me outside at a quick pace. I glanced back over my shoulder, looking for any way to stall us, when the building around us shuddered fiercely. I heard a scream from up above and physically winced. Was that Madeleine? No, no, she was okay... right?

I dug my heels into the tile floor. "Wait! The book!"

"If you haven't finished it already, another one can be found." She snatched me forward, and, despite the fact that I constantly tripped over my dress, we were practically sprinting down the hallway. Vatborns ran in the opposite direction, heading towards the battle. I looked over my shoulder, and suddenly a thought clicked inside my head. I was out of that room! I could use my legacies!

I gave a sharp nod, and the gun in her hand was slung down the hallway thanks to my telekinesis. I jerked my hands up and roughly slung her backwards, right into the male Mog's chest. They both tumbled to the floor, grunting and cursing, as I quickly gathered up my dress and began to run in the opposite direction. This is where the others had been, right? They had been held closer to the steps that lead upstairs!

I made turns wildly, trying my hardest to retrace my steps. After four left turns and two rights, I found a familiar landmark - the glass cell where Madeleine's mother, Anna Paisley, was held. I slowed as my breath trembled. She was there, alright. Curled into a fetal position in the corner, her chest and legs covered in blood as she lay dead. Her skin was pale - very pale, oh so pale - as her mouth hung open. She hadn't been gone long - maybe a day? I felt sick to my stomach, and I turned my head back down the hallway. What had they done to her?

"THERE!" The female Mog screamed. I spun around and threw my hands up again, knocking the two of them to the floor. I grabbed the male's gun with my legacy and pulled it quickly into my hands, which I used to fire two shots into each of them. The male stopped moving, but the female began to squirm. I gasped in horror as black sludge began to pour out of her skin, but I didn't stop to watch. The battle raged above, and I turned, still holding the gun, and ran.

 _"John!"_ I screamed. _"Six! Where are you!"_

"HERE!" Sam began to beat against the metal door to my left. "We're here!"

"Stand back!" I paused before summoning up my telekinesis, letting its strength build. This was going to have to work, and if I failed, my legacy was going to be sucked into Setrakus Ra's walls. Then, I let out a scream as I shoved my hands forward, blowing the steel door off of its hinges. Seconds later, Marina, John, Six, and Sam all piled out, looking ragged and tired. I gasped at Marina, who was covered in blood.

"Did they hurt you?!"

She flushed as she shook her head. "Lady problems, El."

I heard Nine scream a few curses before the gun fire went off again. No one had time to ask me what I was doing in a formal dress, but frankly I didn't mind. We sprinted towards the right, heading for the staircase to help Nine kick some Mogadorian ass, when my lower half froze, and I fell to the floor. Suddenly, an invisible force began to drag me backwards, and I screamed. The others, who had gotten a little ahead of me, turned.

"Tsk, tsk, Ella, you can't just harm my men like that. Those were healthy natural born Mogadorians," my grandfather chided, snatching me from the floor by my shackles. I tried to fight against him, but his powers were too strong. All of my energy was drained, and I was forced to slump against him. Unfortunately, he was in his Mogadorian appearance which reeked of B.O.

"Ella!" John began to sprint down the hallway after me, his arms blazing with his lumen. A wicked light behind his eyes shone, but before he could reach it, Setrakus Ra had already turned and began to sprint with me in his arms. His legs were much longer than John's, and the distance between me and freedom was increasing. I reached out to John helplessly, and even though I was trying my hardest to fight against him, I was practically paralyzed.

Marina trailed closely behind John, screaming for me to fight, but I couldn't. Six and Sam must have ran upstairs to help Nine. John flung a fireball, but it barely missed Setrakus Ra's head. He continued to sprint until he turned a sharp corner, and then my world became twisted.

We tumbled into darkness, my whole body screaming in vertigo and agony until I landed on a metal floor. I laid helplessly, gasping for breath as I looked around. Oh no. Oh no no no...

I was on the landing deck of a huge airship, overlooking New York City. My grandfather stood feet away, dusting off his blue suit as he spoke to an unseen person. I propped myself on my elbows as my vision spun. I squinted over at them.

"Now, we have preparations to make and a wedding to plan. Being the groom, and being a willing participant, you're going to have the executive order, considering you're the man in the relationship. ...You will be the man in the relationship, correct?"

"Obviously," spat the guy spitefully.

"Good." Setrakus Ra clapped him roughly on the shoulder. "But, if you hurt her, I'll have to kill you." He didn't wait around for a response as he turned towards me. His polished shoes clapped against the metal floor as he walked towards me.

"Ella, dear, I would like you to meet to man you're betrothed to. There will be no objections to this, understood?" Again, he didn't slow down to hear a response. Instead, he stepped to the side in order to let me see the mystery man. His brown hair was close cropped, his thick features made him barrel-like, and his scowl caused frown lines to appear on his tan face. He was difficult to recognize in his Mogadorian armor, but it wasn't impossible.

"Hello, Ella," Five said as he walked over to me. He squatted down beside me and offered his hand as a smile played across his face. His cheek pressed against his black eyepatch, and he made me want to vomit. "Long time no see."

I began to stiffen with hatred. I started to slap him, but Setrakus Ra caught my hand with his legacy.

"Not so fast. You two might want to try your best to get along since you will be married by the end of the week. Why don't you take her and show her around?"

"Of course, Beloved Leader." He stood, still offering his hand. I didn't want to take it. I wanted to spit on him before throwing him overboard.

But my hand was placed into his by my grandfather's mind, and then Five gently helped me rise to my feet. There was a smile across his face, and I looked around.

Setrakus Ra had disappeared, leaving me with only one homicidal maniac to deal with.

"Where to first?" he asked breezily.

"Somewhere that I can push you overboard."

Again he smiled. "That's the spirit. Come on, I'll show you the overlook."


	17. Escape

Seventeen

 _Nine_

I wasn't sure how many Mogadorians I had turned to dust before I heard Sam and Six racing down the hallway towards us. Sam looked like a mad man as he picked up a fallen knife and began to hack his way through the horde of bastards, screaming bloody murder as he did. I lost sight of Six as she turned invisible, but as a few Mogs began to suddenly have their weapons stole and used against them, I had a feeling I knew where she was. Adam was using the butt of his gun to smash some skulls and deflect some shots. However, his old people seemed to be pointedly attacking him, so I was trying my best to stay close enough to him in case I needed to intervene.

Relief washed over me as we fought together, just like the Elders wanted. Every movement made was fluid and in sync, as if we had been training together our whole lives. I would snatch one of these monsters into the air, and Six would be right there behind him to plunge two swords into his back. Sam would run at a Mog and knock the blaster out of his hand just in time for Adam to catch it and put a shot in its temple. Looking back, the raging battle reminds me of a beautiful ballet - well, with blood, guts, tears, and balls-to-the-walls rage.

Once we cleared the hallway, I could still hear the sirens going off below us. The sound of stomping feet and commotion echoed from deeper into the building, and despite my exhaustion, I braced myself to run head-first to kill them all. Six, now visible, caught my arm and tightly squeezed it. I turned quickly towards her.

"We have to go get the others," I started, just taking notice that I was gasping for breath and covered in sweat. "I'll hold them off-"

"John and Marina are downstairs trying to get Ella. Setrakus Ra took her and was running towards his ship."

"Why didn't you go to her?!" My heart skipped a beat.

"There's nothing we could have done," she spoke softly. I knew she was trying to reason with me, but my mind was fighting against realism. "He had her before we could had reacted. They chased after them, but we came to find you."

Sam grinned. "Who else could cause this big of a fuss?"

I wasn't amused.

I reached up to push my hair back, but when I felt the short crop, I frustratedly tugged at it. "I gotta go-" Without bothering to finish my sentence, I began to march back towards the stairs that they had appeared from, but this time, it was Adam and Sam who rushed in front of me.

"Man, you need to stop."

"You're hurt-"

"John and Marina can handle themselves-"

"Where's Madeleine, Nine?" Six's voice rose above them.

"She's hurt pretty bad," Adam answered for me as he pushed against my shoulders with his shaking palms. I saw how heavy he panted, and the sweat and blood that was collected on his pale skin.

I glanced over at Sam, too, who looked scrawnier than usual. His hair was matted, and his eyes expressed an exhaustion that lead back for days. One glance at Six, and I could see that she had it, too. I stopped pressing against Adam and Sam and, with a deep frown, allowed myself to resign just for a moment.

"Then what now?" I said with a bit more venom than intended.

Six glanced around, still holding her stolen weapons. "We find John and Marina, then Madeleine, then we leave. All of us will need some healing and rest, just for a few days."

I nodded, and the other boys agreed that was the best (and only) plan we had. Quietly, Sam turned towards Adam, and I wasn't sure if his lip was quivering or not.

"My dad isn't waiting for us outside, is he."

Adam opened his mouth to speak before faltering. After a moment, he simply said, "I'm sorry, Sam. I tried."

The human nodded before turning away. "We need to go find John."

Six spoke up. "Adam, do you know how to get out of here?"

"Yes."

"Nine and Sam, go get Madeleine and wait fifteen minutes. If we're not back by then, go back to the car. Adam, you come with me to find John and Marina so that we can find our way out of here." She slipped her hand into Adam's, giving a soldierly nod as her body language steeled over. She wasn't about to shy away from the danger of going back the the bottom level. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her shy away from anything.

She shielded Adam and herself using her invisibility legacy, and they left.

"Come on," I said, turning and jogging down the hallway towards the tiny office room where I left her, tucked under a desk where she was bleeding profusely.

A swarm of thoughts ran through my head. What if she bled out? What if she died, scared and alone, because I didn't come back in time? What if they found her and took her somewhere?

I picked up my pace ever so slightly to try to push those thoughts out of my mind. No, that didn't happen. She's alright. She's going to be okay.

When I turned into the office, there was an eerie quiet resting in the atmosphere. I stepped in, my boots sinking into the plush green carpet that didn't match the rest of the converted military testing facility. Sam stayed behind me with his knife raised.

"Mads?" I called quietly. I made my way carefully to the back of the desk, and my heart broke. Her shield was still up, but it was flickering in and out. She was slumped over against the back paneling, her clothes soaked with her own blood. I instantly stooped down and slid her out into my arms, suddenly noticing a sharp twinge behind my bicep.

"Madeleine, wake up," I gathered her up as I pushed her hair away from her face. "Marina's going to heal you as soon as she gets here, don't you worry..."

I bent over and kissed her forehead gently and away from her cut. Sam cleared his throat as he stood in the doorway with his back towards us, watching our six.

"The others - they're running towards us."

I lifted her into my arms and stood as my adrenaline pumped, carrying her out of the office and towards the front door. I heard Marina gasp as she saw her, but when I saw Marina, I froze.

"Are you okay?" I asked quickly, looking at her blood stained pants.

"Lady issues. She needs to be healed, stat."

"There's a small boat outside," Adam said. "We'll make do. Come on."

We all quickly followed him outside, and Johnny - scruffed up Johnny Boy - held the tiny boat still as we all climbed in. I held Madeleine in my lap as Marina immediately laid her hands on her leg to begin the healing process. John and Sam took hold of the oars and began to row us to the opposite shore.

I heard some Mogadorians inside, but we didn't stick around long enough to find out. We set off into the inky black waters towards the other side, without Ella, but regrouped and alive.


	18. Til Death Do We Part

Eighteen

 _Ella_

Five took his sweet time showing me around the Anubis, pointing out every room that he knew I would not care about. He also made a point to tell me how his presence made them all better, since apparently he was God's gift to mankind. Opposite of how he was when I first met him, Five now strutted through the walkways with his barrel chest puffed out, making long exaggerated strides and speaking with a bombastic tone. I knew that he was going for a 'holier than thou' aura, but really, he was an annoying ass.

I tried to be observant throughout the tour. I noticed the alarming number of vatborns and how many more were being produced at the moment. I saw the incredible number of skimmers that were ready to fight despite the amount that had been shot down or taken damage. I noticed how complex and sophisticated their technology was.

I noticed how outnumbered we were, and how without our full strength, the odds were drastically against us.

Five ended the tour near where we started, standing on a look-over with the cold wind rushing at us. I brushed stray strands out of my face and turned to him, trying to give him my best annoyed look. He didn't seem to notice as he leaned against the metal railing, flexing his bare biceps and looking around. We were extremely high up, and I wondered if we were closer to the edge of space than we were to the ground. Five didn't seem to care about that. He didn't seem to care about anything except for making himself look the best. His outfit - the black expensive battle gear - was unnecessary, but he wore it like a king wore a crown. They were his status symbol, and he actually seemed to believe that the Mogadorians were going to respect him when everything was said and done.

I scoffed lightly. "Why do you try so hard to please them?"

His round face twisted into a frown, his eyebrow coming down over his eyepatch. "Who?"

"Them. The Mogs."

"They actually show me the respect I deserve. They've helped me develop my Legacies and become a man. The Loric abandoned me. I don't understand why you, of all people, stay. They didn't want you to exist. They chose to let you die on that planet."

My blood began to boil as I balled my fists, glaring. "The Elders did what they had to, and they chose to save you. If they knew of the shitbag you are today, I'm sure they wouldn't mind sending me instead of you."

"Your grandfather would have sent me," he growled spitefully.

"I don't have a grandfather. My Cepan, who was killed by your people" - I jabbed a finger in his chest - "was my family. He took care of me, and you all took him from me."

"I didn't hurt him."

"Yeah but you sided with the ones who did."

I knew I was getting to Five by the way he gritted his jaw and pushed himself off of the railing, beginning to pick up his feet haughtily. I wanted to keep my cool and act like he wasn't getting to me, but I couldn't. I was clearly mad, and if he didn't have a flight Legacy, I would probably throw him overboard with my telekinesis.

Five glared at me for a moment before an evil smirk spread across his face. His one eye glinted as his shoulders relaxed, his left hand extended out towards me.

"It's not my job to convince you to like the Mogadorians or what they are trying to accomplish. It's simply my job to make sure you stay and soon be a good wife."

I frowned, taking a few steps away from him, only to find that I was backed against the railing. I couldn't go over it - I would fall to my death, but surely Five would fly fast enough to catch me. "You've got to be joking. I'm only thirteen!" For a moment, jumping over seemed more appealing than being married to that beast.

Five rolled his eye as his patience grew thin. "You act as if I wanted this to happen." His voice dropped to a low growl as he stepped closer. "I don't like you or your friends very much. You all abandoned me, but you're too stupid to see that our people abandoned us. They never trained us - never cared about us! I was stuck with some sick old man for years because the Loric people never gave a damn about us, Ella!"

His voice caught as he searched my face quickly. I noticed the redness growing in his cheeks as he took another step, gritting his teeth as he said quietly, "I don't want to marry you. I don't want to be near you. I wish I never even met you. But shit happens, and now Setrakus-Ra is demanding that we get married, or he's going to kill me."

"And why should I care about you? You didn't care about us when you killed Eight." I heard my voice waiver as I spoke, and I hated to admit to myself that it was out of fear. He hadn't hesitated to kill before, so why should he hesitate now? He could easily slaughter me and fly away before anyone knew I was gone.

But he didn't. Instead, he rolled his eye and turned around, stomping back down the look-over. "Come on. We have work to do."

"I'm not marrying you."

Five paused, but then he shrugged his shoulders and continued, calling back, "Your choice. He'll just force you and lock you away in a dungeon somewhere. If you do it willingly, he'll be more lenient."

I stood my ground. He couldn't be serious.

But I knew he was. Setrakus-Ra was insane, and he would always do whatever it takes to get his way. He wouldn't care if he had to lock his granddaughter away just so that he could weaken the Loric's power. He'd kill me if it meant that he got his way in the end.

In that moment, I knew that I couldn't die because I was too stubborn to conform. I had to stay alive so that I could escape and help my friends defeat these bastards. Once more, I was having to wait for the right time to act, and arguing with Five wasn't going to get me anywhere.

I pushed myself off of the railing quickly and hurried to catch up with Five. "Wait!"

He stopped with a sigh as I ran around to face him. "What?"

"I'll do it."

Five's jaw dropped ever so slightly as he frowned. "You're kidding."

"No, and I'm not doing it for you. What's our next step?"

Five paused as he steeled himself, glancing around to make sure no vatborns had not wandered close to us. "You know you could protest and fight back, right?"

"I know."

"And you're sure that you'll voluntarily go through with this?"

"Positive."

He straightened his chest armor as he lifted his chin. "Well, come on then. Let's go tell Setrakus-Ra."

...

The next day was as hectic as a battlefield.

As soon as we told my grandfather that we agreed to preform the marriage ceremony voluntarily, he immediately called in his servants and told them to get to work preparing for the wedding. From how he described it, Mogadorian weddings were far different than weddings I had seen on earth. The ceremony would be held before the entire army aboard the Anubis, and he would perform the ceremony himself. Food was being prepared quickly for a feast afterwards, but first we would have to recite vows together in formal wear.

I was given a red and golden embroidered dress to wear, while Five wore a red suit and a golden tie.

"Red represents the blood of our enemies," Setrakus-Ra had said earlier in the day. "It's the same color as the blood that will spill from the opposing Loric's hearts."

I was beginning to regret my decision as a few of the female Mogadorian servants began to dress me. One, who was a scrawny woman with thin hair, twisted my hair into intricate braids and placed Baby's Breath in my auburn hair. Another patted my cheeks with makeup while the other laced up my dress. I felt like a doll, being pulled everywhere all at once as women tried to make me beautiful. I wondered if Five was being dressed with the same urgency that I was, or if he was even given servants to wait on him hand-and-foot.

It was beginning to get dark outside as the time for the ceremony came close. Vatborns began to light candles that sat on the edge of each step, which led up to an archway that was laced with white roses. Under the arch, Setrakus-Ra waved at his faithful followers before smiling down at us cruelly. I stood at the bottom, my red train laid out behind me, with a bouquet of roses in my hands. Five stood next to me, his head freshly shaved as he stood at military attention at the foot of the steps.

Here I was, thirteen and about to marry a murderer. Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?

"You look nice," Five whispered as he adjusted his eye patch gently.

"You look cruel."

"Just the look I was going for," he said with a proud grin.

"It must be hard to go for a look when you only have one eye," I whispered back.

Before he could make a haughty retort, the vatborns began to stomp their feet in unison, the noise echoing all around the large chamber. Five offered his arm to me, which I regret accepting, and we ascended slowly up the black steps. Setrakus-Ra waiting patiently at the top, and once we arrived, he told us to join hands and face each other.

"Tonight, we gather here for a very symbolic unison. Both of these Loric have turned against their people and have joined our forces!"

I could have protested, but for some reason, I felt frozen in place as the crowd surged with excitement. He must have held me still with his Telekinesis, because at that moment I found that I couldn't break eye contact with Five. My breath became shallow as panic set in, and I noticed a tiny bead of sweat making its way down Five's forehead.

Neither of us wanted to go along with this.

"And now," the ruthless Mog continued, "they will embark on a new journey - one that will help us bring about another Great Expansion for the benefit of all our people!"

Once more, the crowd screamed with glee. I felt Five's fingers tighten around mine, but I couldn't move to pull away.

 _I want to go home..._

"Now, Cody," he said, addressing my Loric counterpart, "do you take Ella to be your spouse, to have and to command, in sickness and in health, in war or in peace, until death shall you part?"

"I do," Five said firmly. Our eyes were still locked, and they didn't match his confident voice.

"Ella," the monster said to me, "do you take Cody to be your spouse, to have and to serve, in sickness and in health, in war and in peace, until death do you part?"

"I do."

The words rushed out of my mouth before I realized I said them. I do? Wait, no I don't. I don't want this anymore! I tried to correct myself and protest against the body-bind I was trapped in, but nothing worked. Setrakus-Ra was too strong at the moment as he fed off of the energy of the crowd. I felt tears stinging my eyes.

 _I want to go home..._

"By the powers invested in me by myself, the Great Leader of the Mogadorian Race, I now pronounce you man and wife." He lifted his staff from behind him and placed it's head atop of our conjoined hands. "Now repeat after me: We, Cody and Ella, profess our marriage vows..."

 _"We, Cody and Ella, profess our marriage vows..."_

"...as well as further pursue the Great Expansion of the Mogadorian Race under the guidance of Setrakus-Ra..."

 _"...as well as further pursue the Great Expansion of the Mogadorian Race under the guidance of Setrakus-Ra..."_

"...and hereby conjoin our souls as one, with two bodies as one mind, for as long as we both shall live."

 _"...and hereby conjoin our souls as one, with two bodies as one mind, for as long as we both shall live."_

The words tasted like acid as they flew from my tongue, but I couldn't stop them. Yes, I said the vows, but they were against my will. Setrakus-Ra was forcing them out of me.

"By the power invested in me, I seal these vows under the name of the Great Book until death."

Red light flowed from the head of his staff, wrapping our hands in a terrifying glow as my head felt like it was splitting open. I wanted to scream, but all I could do was gasp as tears flowed down my face. Even Five felt the extreme pain inside his mind. Our eyes stayed locked throughout the whole duration, and for a moment I swore that I could here his voice in my head.

But no, that's not possible...

Setrakus-Ra pulled back the staff, and suddenly the pain ended. The paralyzation ended as well as I almost collapsed, but Five gently caught me in his arms and lifted me to my feet. He quickly searched my face as the crowd around us screamed with pleasure.

"You okay?" He asked quietly.

I couldn't answer from the pure shock. Not because he was being considerate and actually worried about me. No, not because of the dirty trick that was just played on us. And no, not because I just got married.

I heard his question in my mind as clear as day.

The monsters around us roared with glee as Five took my hand and faced them, forcing a smile on his face as he lifted our conjoined hands into the air, even if I was the only person who noticed or knew how badly they were both trembling. Setrakus-Ra laid his hands on both of our shoulders and whispered, "I'm proud of both of you."

 _I want to go home..._


End file.
